Berkshire warns of brokerage with same name

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has warned investors that it has no affiliation with a purported cryptocurrency brokerage website using the Berkshire Hathaway name.

The website says its operator is a Texas-based broker founded in 2020 to give investors “an opportunity to achieve a completely passive income from investment in cryptocurrency mining”.

It includes purported customer testimonials and says the broker is regulated in the US, UK, Cyprus and SA, using incorrect names for two regulators. Its email format differs from that of Buffett’s company.

Buffett has long been sceptical of cryptocurrency and in 2018 called bitcoin “rat poison squared”.

Buffett’s company said it learnt about the website, berkshirehathawaytx.com, on Friday afternoon.

“The entity who has this web address has no affiliation with Berkshire Hathaway Inc or its chair and CEO, Warren E Buffett,” said Berkshire.

The website’s operator did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Buffett has run Berkshire Hathaway since 1965.

SCRUTINY

The conglomerate based in Omaha, Nebraska, owns several dozen companies, including the BNSF railroad and Geico car insurer. On September 30 it owned shares valued at more than $306bn.

Cryptocurrency has come under renewed scrutiny recently. Crypto investors last week sued FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and several celebrities who promoted his exchange, including NFL quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David, claiming they engaged in deceptive practices to sell FTX yield-bearing digital currency accounts.

FTX filed for bankruptcy and is facing scrutiny from US authorities amid reports that $10bn in customer assets were shifted from FTX to BankmanFried’s trading company, Alameda Research.