New institutional player — MassMutual purchases $100M Bitcoin

Massachusetts-based insurance firm MassMutual just announced that it has purchased $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment account.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the company purchased the coins — purportedly 5,470 Bitcoin (BTC) given the current price of $18,279 — through New York-based fund management company NYDIG. MassMutual also reportedly bought a $5 million equity stake in the firm, which holds $2.3 billion in crypto.

The report states that the investment is part of a broad MassMutual strategy, with the goal of achieving “measured yet meaningful exposure to a growing economic aspect of our increasingly digital world.”

The purchase comes as major institutional players are adopting Bitcoin for the first time and going longer on crypto investments. In September, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy purchased more than $425 million in Bitcoin as a reserve asset. Earlier this week, the company announced it would invest the proceeds from a $400 million securities offering into Bitcoin as well.

MassMutual reportedly oversees more than $235 billion in its general investment account as of Sept. 30.

This story is developing and will be updated.