CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday he owns ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market value.
“I’ve got a lot of ether,” Cramer said on “Squawk Box,” explaining he initially acquired it in order to bid on nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, being auctioned in March by Time magazine. “I didn’t get it, so I just kept the ether.”
While Cramer did not specify exactly when he bought ether, the digital currency entered March at about $1,400 and rose to around $1,900 by the end of the month. The Time NFT auction closed March 24.
Cramer’s comments Tuesday came as ether extended its massive rally so far in 2021, setting an all-time high just above $3,500. Ether, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain, has soared more than 370% year to date, with a total market value now above $400 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Cramer said perhaps he will eventually “buy a house” with his ether, a reference to his recent revelation that he sold some of his bitcoin holdings in order to pay off a mortgage. “I now own a house — lock, stock and barrel — because I bought this currency,” bitcoin, the “Mad Money” host said on CNBC on April 15.
In a video for his financial news website The Street, Cramer said Monday, “My Ethereum has gone up tremendously in value, and I’m not selling it.” He added, “I sold a lot of bitcoin because I had my eye on a place.”
Bitcoin, which has the biggest market cap of any digital coin, traded above $55,000 per token Tuesday, about 15% lower than last month’s all-time high but still nearly a double in 2021. The current price level put bitcoin’s total market value just over $1 trillion, nearly half of the entire crypto market.
Cryptocurrencies broadly speaking have moved further into the mainstream throughout 2021. Crypto exchange Coinbase‘s direct listing last month on the Nasdaq was heralded as a major milestone for the burgeoning digital asset industry.
