Auto Insurer Metromile Adds $1 Million worth of Bitcoin to its Balance Sheet

Car insurance company Metromile invested $1 million in Bitcoin during the six months ended June 30, 2021.

“During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company purchased an aggregate of $1.0 million in digital assets, comprised solely of bitcoin,” reads the company's SEC filing on Tuesday.

For the storage of its Bitcoin, the company is using a third-party custodial service.

The company also reported an impairment loss of $0.1 million on Bitcoin, while no realized gains or losses were recognized during the three months and six months ended June 30, 2021. As such, the fair market value of bitcoin held as of June 30, 2021, was $0.9 million.

“The digital assets are initially recorded at cost and are subsequently remeasured on the consolidated balance sheets at cost, net of any impairment losses incurred since acquisition,” says the document.

Back in May, when announcing the option for policyholders to pay premiums and receive claim payouts in BTC, the digital insurance platform had said that the company would buy $10 million in Bitcoin in Q2.

“Supporting decentralized finance and adding bitcoin as a new payment option is the next logical step… as cryptocurrency becomes mainstream and a more significant portion of consumers’ assets,” said Metromile CEO Dan Preston at the time.

Metromile, which charges premiums based on miles driven, reported net earnings per share loss of $0.33 on total revenue of almost $29 million in the second quarter.

While the numbers improved from the second quarter of 2020 and both revenue and EPS beat analyst estimates, investors were disappointed with the results and the remaining outlook for the year.