Bitcoin (BTC) is an “insurance policy against financial calamity,” according to Bill Miller, the billionaire founder and Chief Investment Officer of investment firm Miller Value Partners. On May 24, Miller appeared on an episode of the “Richer, Wiser, Happier” podcast to support cryptocurrencies as a way for folks caught up in the war to still access financial products. As an example, he cited the breakdown of Afghanistan’s banking system following the US exit in August 2021. “When the US pulled out of Afghanistan, Western Union stopped sending remittances there or taking them from Afghanistan, but if you had Bitcoin, you were fine. Your Bitcoin is there. You can send it to anybody in the world if you have a phone.” Miller explained that instances of how cryptocurrency can be used as insurance don’t have to be “all or nothing,” citing the performance of Bitcoin during the early stages of the epidemic and the Federal Reserve’s response. “When the Fed stepped in and started gunning the money supply and bailing out, in essence, the mortgage rates […] Bitcoin functioned fine. There was no run on Bitcoin. The system functioned without the Fed and without any interference. Everybody got their Bitcoin, the price adjusted, and then when the Bitcoiners realized, ‘Wait, we’re going to have inflation down the road,’ Bitcoin went through the roof.” “It’s an insurance policy, the way I look at it,” he added. Miller also slammed Warren Buff...
