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Opinion

Why a Massive 169-Year-Old Insurance Company Just Bought $100M in Bitcoin

MassMutual becomes the latest announced institutional buyer of bitcoin, and this one could be even more significant in terms of precedent.

By Nathaniel Whittemore
AccessTimeIconDec 11, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:42 a.m. UTC
AccessTimeIconDec 11, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. UTCUpdated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:42 a.m. UTC
Breakdown 12.11 - MassMutual Bitcoin

AccessTimeIconDec 11, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. UTCUpdated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:42 a.m. UTC

MassMutual becomes the latest announced institutional buyer of bitcoin, and this one could be even more significant in terms of precedent. 

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This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

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Today on the Brief:

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  • Crypto-friendly CFTC chairman to resign at the beginning of the year

Our main discussion: Why MassMutual bought $100 million in bitcoin and why it matters.

In this episode, NLW looks at recent news that MassMutual had purchased $100 million in bitcoin for its general account, as well as made a $5 million minority investment in $2.3 billion asset manager NYDIG, which helped facilitate the bitcoin purchase. He discusses why insurance company purchases are different than other institutional buyers like MicroStrategy, and why this might be the beginning of a more significant industry trend.

See also: MassMutual Buys $100M in Bitcoin, Bets on Institutional Adoption With $5M NYDIG Stake

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

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