Berkshire Hathaway, the investment conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffet, has issued a warning about a fake cryptocurrency website that uses the Berkshire Hathway name, without having any affiliation with the company.
See related article: Bitcoin price falls to more than two-year low amid growing concerns about FTX fallout
Fast facts
- “Earlier this afternoon it came to our attention that there is an entity using the name Berkshire Hathaway with a web address of berkshirehathawaytx.com,” said Friday’s press release. ”The entity who has this web address has no affiliation with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. or its Chairman and CEO, Warren E. Buffett.”
- The fake website masquerades as a crypto exchange and mining platform that offers fixed investment packages in crypto and precious metals, with a guaranteed daily return on investments of up to 50%.
- The scam is also apparent from the fake exchange’s footer, which claims to be regulated by multiple international regulators, some of which are spelled wrong. The site does not appear on the homepage of any of the mentioned regulators.
- Warren Buffet has been a long-time crypto skeptic, having called Bitcoin “rat poison squared” in 2018.
- Despite Buffet’s criticism, Berkshire Hathaway invested US$1 billion in Bitcoin-friendly Nubank in 2021, one of Latin America’s most valuable banks offering a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
- Berkshire Hathaway’s warning comes at a difficult time for crypto investors, as the market continues to be affected by shockwaves from FTX’s collapse.
See related article: FTX failed because of humans, not crypto