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MassMutual's Bitcoin Buy May Presage $600B Institutional Flood: JPMorgan

JPMorgan analysts said MassMutual's recent $100 million bitcoin purchases are a sign of growing mainstream acceptance for the cryptocurrency.

Updated May 9, 2023, 3:14 a.m. Published Dec 14, 2020, 10:01 a.m.

JPMorgan analysts have said the recent bitcoin purchases by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. are a sign of growing mainstream acceptance for the cryptocurrency.

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“MassMutual’s bitcoin purchases represent another milestone in the bitcoin adoption by institutional investors,” JPMorgan’s strategists said, according to Bloomberg on Monday.
“One can see the potential demand that could arise over the coming years as other insurance companies and pension funds follow MassMutual’s example,” they added.
On Thursday, the 169-year old insurance firm announced bitcoin purchases worth $100 million, as well as a $5 million equity stake in NYDIG – a financial services firm focused on bitcoin with $2.3 billion in the asset under management.
MassMutual’s move suggests insurance firms and pension funds are beginning to look at bitcoin as an investment/reserve asset alongside increased demand from wealthy investors and family offices.
According to JPMorgan, bitcoin may find an additional demand of $600 billion if pensions insurance firms in the U.S., European Union, U.K. and Japan allocate 1% of assets to the top cryptocurrency.
Regulatory hurdles, however, may complicate matters for such firms, limiting their participation in the bitcoin market, the strategists said.