Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased $100 million of bitcoin for its general investment account, “the latest sign of mainstream acceptance” of the digital currency. This according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal.
The purchase is a small one given its size—MassMutual’s general investment account totaled $235 billion as of September 30th—but it reflects further momentum for the digital currency which saw a surge in value this past fall. The article reports,“The price of a single bitcoin peaked in late November at $19,835, topping its 2017 high, and currently trades around $18,000, up 150% year to date.”
Launched in 2009, bitcoin is a software program that operates throughout a network of independent but linked computers that allows the exchange of value directly without the need for a middleman (i.e., a bank).
MassMutual, founded in 1851, said the investment in bitcoin was based on a strategy to embrace new opportunities while remaining diversified, “giving us measured yet meaningful exposure to a growing economic aspect of our increasingly digital world.”
According to the article, bitcoin has recently attracted the attention of investors such as billionaire Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller along with companies such as payments firm Square Inc. and tech company MicroStrategy Inc.
The article concludes that despite the uptick in bitcoin interest, the digital currency remains a “tiny market, which contributes to its notorious volatility,” with its price falling as low as $3,867 at the market’s March 2020 bottom.
