Asset Management Firm Makes $1 Billion Profit by HODLing Bitcoin for 5 Months

U.K.-based investment management firm Ruffer made a quick buck HODLing bitcoin for five months.

Ruffer Makes Quick Money on Bitcoin

According to a report by The Times published on June 6, investment management company Ruffer is said to have made a whopping $1 billion in five months from investing in bitcoin. The firm added it sold a huge chunk of bitcoin quickly because “younger people wouldn’t be spending so much time trading now that the lockdowns are ending.”

Per Hamish Baillie, an investment director at Ruffer, the firm had initially invested about $600 million in BTC in November 2020.

“When the price doubled we took some profits for our clients in December and early January. We actively managed the position and by the time we sold the last tranche in April the total profit was slightly more than $1.1 billion.”

Notably, the aforementioned ordeal also make Ruffle the first fund manager to purchase bitcoin in what could only be dubbed a short-term play banking on bitcoin’s infamous yet profitable volatility.

According to Baillie, the stilmulus checks sent by the U.S. government to all its citizens at the peak of the lockdown led to younger people spending it on assets such as bitcoin. Baillie added that financial institutions such as Ruffer and Goldman Sachs will continue to purchase bitcoin and propel it to establish itself as a mainstream asset within investment portfolios.

Baillie added that investing in bitcoin in the future is “certainly not off the menu” for Ruffer. He added:

“If you have a multi-asset strategy then things that behave in different ways are really helpful. There’s no point being multi-asset if all your different assets move with the same dynamics.”

Bitcoin Energy Consumption Concerns Overblown

To date, a major criticism towards bitcoin is the supposed high amount of energy it consumes to remain functional. This was, in fact, the reason why Tesla discontinued its service that allowed people to purchase electric cars by paying in bitcoin.

However, according to Baillie, these concerns are overblown.

“There is a lot of hyperbole and misinformation out there when it comes to bitcoin’s carbon footprint,” Baillie said. “Bitcoin uses less electricity than the gaming industry.”