Jim Cramer’s top 3 alternatives: ‘Own some gold, bitcoin, and cash’

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(Kitco News) Investors should think about alternative investments, said CNBC’s Jim Cramer as he revealed his current top three picks — gold, bitcoin, and cash.

Bitcoin is a new addition to Cramer’s list. It is “almost irresponsible not to include” bitcoin, he told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday.

“As an alternative, I used to say, own some gold, own some cash. Now I say, own some cash, own some gold, and own some bitcoin. It is a little inflated today, but there are still a lot of people thinking it is going to $100,000,” Cramer said.

Cramer added that bitcoin is exciting, and he could talk about it “endlessly,” but he warned not to invest too much into the cryptocurrency without hedging.

“At the end, you have to have some sort of hedge on it. If you take it and it goes down, you’d end up saying, ‘why did I use bitcoin when I can transact in dollars’,” he said. “But as far as a way to be able to have a pastiche of things that you should do with your cash, I am all for it.”

Cramer said he owns bitcoin, and he has owned it for some time. “Tesla put a lot of money in. I don’t have that level of conviction, but I own bitcoin.” In an earlier interview with TheStreet, Cramer revealed that he bought bitcoin when it dropped below $18,000.

Every treasurer out there should be going to their board of directors and pitching putting a small portion of cash into bitcoin.

“It seems to be an interesting way to hedge against the rest of the environment. A nice hedge against fiat currency,” Cramer pointed out.

Despite all the excitement, Cramer did admit that he is more of a traditional investor who likes to hedge with gold.

“I believe in gold as a way to hedge, I believe in selling calls against certain stocks as a way to hedge. I am much more traditional, and so I think bitcoin is just a piece of the puzzle. I don’t think the companies should invest big,” he said. “It is an alternative to having a cash position where you make absolutely nothing.”

On the macro outlook, Cramer said markets are looking for some more good news, and they are not getting it. “We still want to know about the stimulus. And vaccine variants that we are having trouble are very much on people’s minds.”


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