Most financial advisors frame Bitcoin as the risky choice for older investors. Michael Milmeister, co-founder and CEO of Australian Bitcoin broker Stormrake, says the opposite is true.
Milmeister joined TheStreet Roundtable and argued that having no Bitcoin at all is now the biggest portfolio risk an investor can take, even approaching retirement, and that the standard institutional recommendation dramatically undershoots where most people should start.
Stormrake was founded in Melbourne in 2019 and has grown into one of Australia’s largest independent digital asset brokerages, serving more than 10,000 clients. The firm expanded into the United States in April 2026 through a partnership with zerohash, the crypto infrastructure provider used by Interactive Brokers, Stripe, and Morgan Stanley. Milmeister previously worked at Goldman Sachs and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia before co-founding the firm.
Zero Bitcoin is the real risk
The conventional framing is that Bitcoin’s volatility makes it dangerous for people approaching retirement. Milmeister says that has it backwards.
“Not having Bitcoin in your portfolio is hugely risky. You could be missing out on an asset that’s growing faster than anything else. Not having it at all, that’s the biggest problem.”
He recommends a 5 to 10 percent allocation as a starting point for most investors.
“Even to start off with a 5 or 10 percent allocation, that’s beautiful. If we can get people off zero, that’s the biggest thing. That’s really the biggest thing.”
That is two to five times higher than what BlackRock officially recommends. The world’s largest asset manager caps its Bitcoin allocation guidance at 2%, arguing that anything higher introduces outsized risk in a traditional 60/40 portfolio. BlackRock’s framework treats a 1-2% Bitcoin allocation as carrying roughly the same portfolio risk as any single one of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks.
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Skin in the game accelerates learning
For Milmeister, the exact allocation percentage matters less than breaking the zero barrier. Once an investor owns any amount of Bitcoin, the learning curve steepens.
“You learn about it best when you’re invested in it. Once you’ve got skin in the game, you start to learn at a faster pace. The more you go down that rabbit hole of Bitcoin, the more confident you are, more conviction, and then you end up investing more, as most people do.”
Most investors who start at 5% do not stay there. Exposure builds conviction, and conviction tends to grow the position over time.
“The passion is to onboard as many people as possible into Bitcoin. Every time we can get someone off zero, that’s a beautiful thing. That’s what it’s all about.”
This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.