Investor Bill Miller said last week that his MVP1 hedge fund has half of its investments in bitcoin.
Miller, the chairman and chief investment officer at Miller Valued Partners, made the disclosure on Dec. 13 when speaking to WealthTrack podcast with Consuelo Mack.
âItâs just about 50 percent right now,â the legendary hedge fund manager was quoted as saying, who added that the fund also holds bitcoin cash. Millerâs involvement in bitcoin dates back several years when he bought stakes in 2013 and 2014 (at a claimed average cost of $350 apiece).
In October this year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, bitcoin was said to have comprised one-third of Millerâs hedge fund, meaning that the manager has only boosted the stake size since then. At first, according to Miller, just 5% of the fund had been allocated to bitcoin.
And as of October, the value of the MVP1 fund was pegged at $154 million, and Miller Value Partners reported having more than $2 billion in assets under management as of September.
In the podcast, Miller took aim at those who have criticized the cryptocurrency, including billionaire investor Warren Buffet â who Miller called âwrongâ about bitcoin back in 2014 â and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who infamously declared bitcoin a âfraudâ earlier this year.
According to Miller, neither of them had fully thought the topic through.
âIâm highly confident to say that not one of them had actually studied it carefully,â he said during the podcast. âThat is to say, they have strong opinions about something they havenât really looked at.â
His comments come after weeks of escalating bitcoin prices, which at press time are trading at around $18,695, according to CoinDeskâs Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
At the same time, subtle changes could be coming next for Millerâs bitcoin-heavy hedge fund. Miller suggested during the podcast that his firm is looking at ways to decrease the amount of cryptocurrency it holds without having to sell any of the holdings.
âIâd be fairly confident to say it wonât be 50 percent of the fund for that much longer, which does not mean necessarily we are going to sell it,â Miller explained, adding:
âWe are working on how to handle it without selling it.â
Image via WealthTrack/YouTube