Despite Bitcoin (BTC) hitting a multi-month low below $40,000 in early January 2022, investor Bill Miller remains bullish on the currency.

During a WealthTrack interview last Friday, Miller said he was no longer just an “observer” of Bitcoin, but rather a bull.

Bitcoin now accounts for 50% of his net worth along with investments in major industry firms like Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy and BTC mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining. A longtime Amazon investor, Miller owns almost 100% of the rest of his portfolio.

Miller bought his first Bitcoin back in 2014 when BTC was trading around $200 and then purchased a “little bit more overtime” when it became $500. The investor did not buy it for years until BTC plummeted to $30,000 after hitting around $66,000 in April 2021, he said.

“This time I started buying it again at $30,000, down from $66,000 and the reasoning was there’s a lot more people using it, there’s a lot more money coming in from the venture capital world,” Miller stated, adding that he bought a “fair amount in the $30,000 range.”

The billionaire investor noted that he looks at Bitcoin as an “insurance policy against a financial catastrophe” as well as a powerful investment tool that has been outstripping gold. He also pointed out Bitcoin’s scarcity, meaning that only 21 million Bitcoin can be created.

While pouring as much as 50% in BTC in related markets, Miller recommended individual investors to put at least 1% of their assets in Bitcoin, stating:

“I think the average investor should ask himself or herself what do you have in your portfolio that has that kind of track record — number one; is very, very underpenetrated; can provide a service of insurance against financial catastrophe that no one else can provide; and can go up ten times or fifty times. The answer is: nothing.”

 

Now celebrating his 40th anniversary in the investment business, Miller currently serves as chief investment officer at Miller Value Partners, a company he founded back in 1999 while working at investment giant Legg Mason. The legendary investor is known for beating S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years with Legg Mason, where he reportedly controlled up to $70 billion.

Miller’s signature fund, Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust, lost two thirds of its value due to a financial crisis by the end of 2008.