Jim Cramer: Coinbase stock is cheap, put 5% of your portfolio in crypto

Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money thinks Coinbase is the “natural repository of crypto” and has recommended buying the stock.

Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” has recommended buying Coinbase stock, and suggested that 5% of investment portfolios should be allocated to cryptocurrency.

Cramer made the comments in the Lightning Round on Aug. 25 in response to a caller who asked whether buying Coinbase stock was a good way to get crypto exposure. The 66-year-old finance personality stated that while Coinbase’s listing went “very poorly” he views it as a big player in crypto:

“I think Coinbase is inexpensive. I don’t really care for management because I think they let out a lot of stock when they started. I was against that. They should’ve been buyers, not sellers. I think the listing went very, very poorly. I think the company is the … natural repository of crypto.”

Coinbase Stock (COIN) stock has seen a lackluster performance since its listing on the Nasdaq exchange in mid-April. At the time of writing, COIN is sitting at $248, down 27% from it’s all-time high of $340 on April 16.

However, the firm had a strong performance last quarter with its Q2 report posting net profits of $1.6 billion, compared to $32 million in Q2 2020.

Cramer added to his comments by suggesting that direct exposure to crypto should also be an option for investors:

“I own Ethereum directly. I think you should have up to 5% of your portfolio in crypto. I am a believer in crypto.”

The CNBC host is a former hedge fund manager and co-founder of financial news website TheStreet.com. While Cramer has remained relatively consistent on Ethereum (ETH) lately, he has had an on-again-off-again love affair with digital gold since he first bought Bitcoin (BTC ) back in December 2020.

In fact, he’s all over the place. In the middle of a crypto downturn in June, Cramer urged investors to be “patient” with BTC — but ten days later his patience ran out and he boldly claimed that BTC is “not going up because of structural reasons,” and revealed:

“Sold almost all of my Bitcoin. Don’t need it.”

In March, Cramer bullishly stated that BTC made him a “ton of money” while his investments in gold and stocks had let him down. In April he stated that he had cashed out 50% of his “phony money” BTC to pay off his mortgage.

Cointelegraph reported on May 5 Cramer said he owned “a lot of Ether” after he initially bought the asset to bid on a Time Magazine NFT.