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December 10, 2020 – NYDIG, a leading provider of institutional investment and technology solutions for Bitcoin, announced today that Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has purchased a minority stake in the company.
Along with a $5 million equity investment in NYDIG, MassMutual has also purchased $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment account in a transaction facilitated by NYDIG. The firm’s Bitcoin position is held on NYDIG’s secure, audited, and insured custody platform.
Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, said, “The strategic equity investment of MassMutual underscores NYDIG’s role as the leading provider of Bitcoin solutions to institutions, banks, and private clients. It also accelerates our white-label business segment, which provides bespoke implementations of our core custody, execution, financing, and AML/KYC capabilities to a rapidly expanding group of large financial institutions.” With respect to MassMutual’s purchase of Bitcoin, Gutmann added, “We are proud of this incredible moment in the history of both Bitcoin and the insurance industry. This reflects the expansion of Bitcoin to insurance company general investment accounts, as well as NYDIG’s unique ability to meet the complex needs of the most demanding institutional investors.”
MassMutual’s equity investment comes during a period of substantial growth for NYDIG, which now has over $2.3 billion of digital asset balances under custody – including for a growing list of leading insurance company general investment accounts.
MassMutual, a highly-rated, leading mutual life insurance company, has operated since 1851 with a singular purpose: helping people secure their future and protect the ones they love. Tim Corbett, Chief Investment Officer of MassMutual said, “We believe that having an equity stake in NYDIG as well as a Bitcoin position in our general investment account will help us deliver long-term value to our policyowners. We look forward to further exploring additional ways to work with NYDIG, consistent with our ongoing focus on innovation and diversification.”
Ross Stevens, founder and Executive Chairman of NYDIG and founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, NYDIG’s parent company, said “MassMutual has been a phenomenal company to work with across Stone Ridge’s broad investment platform. Given their track record of innovation, there is nothing surprising to me about MassMutual leading their industry yet again by both seeing, and acting on, the long-term value of the Bitcoin monetary risk premium for their policy owners.”
Stevens continued, “Since 2012 at Stone Ridge, and since 2017 at NYDIG, we have been quietly building our portfolio of business arks ahead of the no-yield flood, which is now in the early innings of submerging the world. Bitcoin – asymptotically unprintable sound money with an uncorrelated risk premium – is a cornerstone of our practice. To help NYDIG support the next leg of Bitcoin’s journey, I could not have dreamed of a better company to work with than MassMutual. Their enduring focus on delivering safety, security, and responsible innovation to their policy owners and their families has long inspired all of us at Stone Ridge and NYDIG, and, I believe, now will inspire the broader Bitcoin community.”
