Miller Value Funds, which is valued at $2.25 Billion is considering an indirect exposure of up to 15% in Bitcoin through Grayscale’s GBTC, according to a recent filing with the US SEC.
“The fund may seek investment exposure to bitcoin indirectly by investing in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.”
Veteran American investor Bill Miller, founder, and CFA of Miller Value Partners (MVP) is one of the latest multimillionaires to cause a stir in the crypto market by expressing institutional interest in Bitcoin.
According to the official statement, the fund’s exposure to bitcoin is part of its principal investment strategies for long term growth of capital. However, exposure to Bitcoin through GBTC will strictly be limited to 15%.
“The fund will not make any additional investments in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, if as a result of the investment, its aggregate investment in bitcoin exposure would be more than 15% of its assets at the time of investment.”
BTC Exposure Limit Is Due To High Volatility
MVP will deploy the limit to protect the fund from bitcoin’s volatility which poses a principal risk since bitcoin is used more for speculation than for transferring value.
“Currently there is a relatively small use of bitcoin in the retail and commercial marketplace in comparison to the relatively large use of bitcoin by speculators, thus contributing to price volatility that could adversely affect the Fund’s investment in entities that invest in bitcoin.”
The former Legg Mason star is, however, an early Bitcoin adopter. Previous reports reveal that Miller has been investing in Bitcoin for years. In December 2017 Bill Miller said that Miller Value Partners (MVP) had 50% of its total portfolio converted into Bitcoin.
“It won’t be 50% of the fund for that much longer, which does not mean necessarily that we’re going to be selling it.”
The legendary investor claimed at the time that his focus was solely on Bitcoin, adding that many of the cryptocurrencies which erupted in the 2017 crypto bubble would be worthless.
Two months earlier in October 2017, Wall Street Journal reported that 30% of MVP’s $154 million AUM was invested in Bitcoin which the fund had bought at $350, $200, and $500 per Bitcoin between 2014 and 2015.
The price of Bitcoin had soared to $6100 at the time of the report, indicating a 1600% increase in investment value, using the average price of $350.
Miller also said that he had stopped buying bitcoin since there was still a huge chance that bitcoin would fail unless more venture capitalists swooped in.
“I believe there is still a nontrivial chance bitcoin goes to zero, but each day it does not, that chance declines as more venture capital flows into the bitcoin ecosystem and more people become familiar with bitcoin and buy it.”
