MassMutual’s Strategic Bitcoin Investment Grows Fivefold to $500 Million

Massachusetts Mutual, a 173-year insurance giant, invested $100 million into the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) back in 2020. In a press release, the move was noted as giving it a “measured yet meaningful exposure to a growing economic aspect of our increasingly digital world.” The firm’s Bitcoin holdings, if it didn’t sell any BTC, are now worth over $500 million.

As first pointed out by Pete Rizzo, Editor-at-Large at Kraken, the insurance giant invested in the flagship cryptocurrency four years ago, when Bitcoin was trading around the $19,000 mark after recording from a bear market that saw it drop to a $3,200 low in late 2018.

The cryptocurrency’s price has since exploded to now stand at $100,500, which would mean that if MassMutual held onto its BTC investment, it saw its value rise 5x to now stand above $500 million. 

At the time of its investment, according to Investopedia, the firm also took a $5 million minority stake in the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The firm’s investment was significant, as insurance companies are known to be conservative investors.

The firm’s CEO, Roger Crandall, said at the time that MassMutual’s investment portfolio had a “long-term approach” and mainly consists of investment-grade fixed income investments, real estate, and equities. Alternative investments such as Bitcoin, even with the cryptocurrency’s price increase, remain a small portion of the firm’s portfolio.

At the time, the firm had around $275 billion in assets under management. It’s unclear whether the firm held onto its BTC investment or whether it sold a portion or all of it over time. Since its investment was made, a number of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were launched in the United States, allowing investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency.

These funds, as CryptoGlobe reported, attracted over $9.9 billion in inflows after Republican candidate Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential elections early last month.

Featured image via Unsplash.