The state of Wisconsin invested more than $163 million in shares of Bitcoin Spot ETFs
In its report to the SEC, the Wisconsin State Investment Board (SWIB) disclosed multiple investments in crypto, with more than $163 million in Bitcoin Spot ETFs.
The Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) is responsible for administering pension funds and other trust funds for Wisconsin residents. In its latest report to the SEC, the company said it not only continues to allocate assets to traditional financial instruments, but also expands into cryptocurrency and web3 investments in the form of a Bitcoin ETF. spot. spot.
Accordingly, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) purchased 2,450,400 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), currently worth $99.1 million, and 1,013,000 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin fund Trust (GBTC) worth 63.6 million USD, in the first quarter of 2024.
SWIB's decision to invest nearly 163 million USD in Bitcoin Spot ETFs is a strategic step by the Investment Board to diversify its investment portfolio and take advantage of the potential benefits of crypto. This investment could serve as a model for other state investment boards considering similar allocations.
Shares of other cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase, Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, Block, Cipher Mining, Cleanspark and MicroStrategy are also included in the Wisconsin Investment Board's portfolio.
According to data from The Block, BlackRock's IBIT fund and Grayscale's GBTC fund are the two Bitcoin Spot ETFs that dominate the market with the highest trading volume market share.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expressed surprise that a pension fund invested in a Bitcoin Spot ETF. According to him, these large institutions do not appear in 13F reports very often in a year or so. He added that this is a good sign because organizations often tend to act according to the crowd.
As soon as Wisconsin released its report, New Hampshire Congressman Keith Ammon posted on social network X whether the state of New Hampshire should consider investing in a Bitcoin ETF. He also added that if just 1% of the pension fund's assets under management (AUM), estimated at $5.5 billion, were to flow into Bitcoin, it would reduce the supply and increase the price of Bitcoin, due to the number of Bitcoins. Current exploitation is not enough to meet the demand.
Traditional institutions are constantly looking for ways to gain access to Bitcoin. IBIT and GBTC, two leading investment funds, make it easier for investors to gain exposure to this cryptocurrency.
Prominent among them, Blackrock's IBIT fund set a record as the fastest ETF to reach $10 billion in assets under management (AUM), after just 49 days since its launch in January. IBIT broke the previous record of the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) when it took the fund about 3 years to reach $10 billion AUM.
