One of the top pension funds in the United States has recently invested $162 million in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) disclosed that it held $99 million in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and $63 million in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as of March 31. This move is seen as a significant step towards Bitcoin’s acceptance as a global store of value. Bitcoin enthusiasts have long hoped for institutional investors to embrace the cryptocurrency as a treasury reserve asset. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchuas believes that more institutional investors will follow suit as Bitcoin ETFs gain more liquidity. Despite the large investment, Bitcoin only accounts for 0.4% of SWIB’s securities portfolio, which had a total value of $37.8 billion. In December 2023, SWIB had total assets of $155 billion, representing 85% of the entire Wisconsin retirement system. While SWIB is the first pension fund to publicly disclose its Bitcoin holdings, there are efforts to encourage other states to invest in Bitcoin ETFs. Ohio state Rep. Steve Demetriou recently introduced pro-crypto legislation that would require the state’s retirement systems to evaluate Bitcoin ETFs. In addition to pension funds, major banks like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan also hold Bitcoin ETF allocations. However, experts believe that these banks own shares of the funds as authorized participants, not for investment purposes. The Federal Reserve previously prohibited banks from owning “crypto-assets” on their balance sheets.
