Jim Cramer Tells $731M Powerball Winner to Put 5% in Bitcoin

The "Mad Money" host picked bitcoin as one of his hedges against the specter of hyperinflation.

AccessTimeIconJan 22, 2021 at 7:52 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. UTC
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Stock-picking personality Jim Cramer recommended the unknown Maryland-based winner of Wednesday's $731 million Powerball jackpot allocate 5% of his or her newfound fortune in bitcoin.

"You know what, if you won the lottery - Yes, I'm gonna say it: 5% in bitcoin," Cramer said Thursday night on his Mad Money program.

His investment advice, of course, came with a few caveats: Don't buy the bitcoin all at once, don't buy it on the weekend. "Crypto could be incredibly volatile," he said on the day bitcoin tanked 13%.

Cramer identified bitcoin as an "important new store of value."

His words echoed the philosophy preached by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, the tech executive with well over $1 billion of corporate cash plunked into bitcoin. Saylor has called bitcoin humanity's ideal value storage mechanism.

Cramer, who owns bitcoin, is not exactly a Saylor-like disciple of the cryptocurrency some have claimed is tantamount to a religion. Cramer has expressed concerns over market anonymity and erratic trading on his CNBC show in the past.

Cramer framed his recommendations, which also included allocations in art, real estate and physical gold alongside more mainstream plays like stocks and bonds, as tailored for a super-rich investor in a world where hyperinflation reigns.

"If you're already rich, you have to worry about inflation the same way Superman worries about Kryptonite. Because it's the only thing that can really wipe you out. And given the way we're spending like drunken sailors in this country, it may be an issue," said Cramer.

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