Wall Street’s Jim Cramer goes full bullish on Bitcoin, calls it a “winner”

Jim Cramer is now singing a different tune about Bitcoin. The Mad Money host, famous for his sharp takes on markets and occasional whiplash-inducing U-turns, declared on live television , “All I can tell you is, own Bitcoin. That’s a winner.”

This is coming from a man who has spent years flip-flopping on the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. Love him or hate him, when Cramer talks, Wall Street listens—or bets against him.

Bitcoin isn’t exactly waiting for his approval though. It’s been on a wild run, sitting just under $100,000 at $98,500 as of press time. On Thursday, it briefly smashed past $99,000 for the first time ever. The rally isn’t slowing, with investors riding on the expectation of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Trump means crypto dreams: industry-friendly regulation, a possible national Bitcoin reserve, and, let’s face it, chaos that Bitcoin thrives on. Meanwhile, crypto stocks were getting smoked. Coinbase dropped 7.7%, MicroStrategy tanked by 16.2%, and mining stocks were mixed, with Marathon Holdings the lone standout, up 6.9%.

From “what is this?” to “own it”

Cramer wasn’t always bullish on Bitcoin. Go back to 2012, when he first addressed it in an episode of CBS’s The Good Wife. Playing himself, he said, “There’s no central bank to regulate it; it’s digital and functions completely peer to peer.”

That line wasn’t meant as praise. To Cramer, Bitcoin’s lack of a governing body was more a red flag than a feature. Like most traditional finance heads back then, he saw it as risky, unregulated nonsense.

But things started changing in 2021. Institutional investors—big players like Tesla and MicroStrategy—began making bold moves into Bitcoin. That caught Cramer’s attention. He admitted, “Bitcoin is becoming a legitimate asset class.”

Translation: Wall Street’s not laughing anymore, and neither is he. For the first time, Cramer called Bitcoin an asset worth watching. Later that year, as inflation fears ramped up, he doubled down. “With all this money being printed, I think Bitcoin is a good hedge,” he said, positioning the cryptocurrency as protection against central banks’ endless money printers.

2024: Cramer can’t make up his mind

Fast forward to January 2024, and the wheels came off the Bitcoin bandwagon — at least for Cramer. He told viewers of Mad Money, “I think I want to stay away from Bitcoin. Those who are in Bitcoin, nothing bad to say.” That’s Cramer code for, “I don’t like it, but I won’t knock anyone holding it.”

A few weeks later, he went full bear, tweeting, “Unlikely that Bitcoin finds its footing.” Crypto Twitter went wild, with traders joking that Cramer’s bearish call was the ultimate buy signal. Evidently, they weren’t wrong.

By November, the Bitcoin narrative had flipped again—so had Cramer. With prices skyrocketing and nearing $100,000, he gave his strongest endorsement yet. On Mad Money, he said, “MicroStrategy is a Bitcoin play, but I prefer to actually own Bitcoin.”

Cramer’s newfound bullishness comes at a critical time. Bitcoin has gained 130% this year alone. The rally is driven by optimism over Trump’s potential presidency and what it could mean for the crypto market. Analysts are speculating about Bitcoin becoming a part of U.S. monetary strategy, with the idea of a government-held Bitcoin reserve.

The Bitcoin frenzy has also triggered major action in derivatives markets. During Asia’s trading hours, open interest and funding rates on Bitcoin futures surged. Spot market premiums, however, fell, showing some traders were locking in profits.

According to CryptoQuant, this set off a cascade of short liquidations—over $100 million in just 24 hours, per CoinGlass. That squeeze sent Bitcoin’s price even higher.

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