Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has received a fresh endorsement from television personality and former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer, just weeks after he publicly announced plans to sell the leading cryptocurrency.
Cramer’s reversal is striking given how recently he expressed serious doubts about Bitcoin’s long-term security prospects, prompted by a conversation with a prominent technology executive.
During an interview, Cramer asked IBM CEO Arvind Krishna whether advances in quantum computing could eventually break the cryptographic functions that secure Bitcoin holdings.
Krishna responded directly, telling Cramer, “I think that you should give yourself three or four years, and at that point, I would get rather paranoid about it.”
The warning appeared to shake Cramer’s confidence, and within days of the interview he announced that he intended to sell his Bitcoin position in response to Krishna’s cautionary remarks.
That decision now appears to have been short-lived, as Cramer has since reversed his stance and is recommending that investors buy the cryptocurrency rather than avoid it.
The timing of his reversal coincides with a significant move in Bitcoin’s price, which surpassed the $79,000 mark on August 21 amid a broader rally across cryptocurrency markets.
The wider crypto surge began on August 19, gaining additional momentum after the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double the amount of longer-term government bond buybacks.
That policy signal from the Treasury appeared to inject fresh optimism into risk assets broadly, with Bitcoin among the primary beneficiaries of the resulting market enthusiasm.
Cramer has long been a polarizing figure among retail investors, with his rapid shift on Bitcoin serving as the latest example of the fast-moving and often unpredictable nature of cryptocurrency sentiment among mainstream financial commentators.
