Bitcoin

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

BlackRock

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) reported investments in spot Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) exchange-traded funds offered by Grayscale and BlackRock.
In a May 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the government entity responsible for managing Wisconsin state trust funds <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/854157/000106299324010116/xslForm13F_X02/form13fInfoTable.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">disclosed</a> it held more than 2.4 million shares in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and more than a million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), worth roughly $100 million and $64 million, respectively. The filing suggested that the Wisconsin Retirement System could have exposure to crypto investments through the two asset management firms.
The SWIB reported that it <a href="https://www.swib.state.wi.us/_files/ugd/69fc6d_517abcc1e1564882931d8fcd15a18de0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">managed</a> more than $156 billion in assets as of December 2023, with roughly 48% going into public equity investments. Other investments included shares of stock in Coinbase, MicroStrategy and Cleanspark. The SEC added that observers should not assume that the information provided by the state entity was “accurate and complete.”
“Normally you don’t get these big fish institutions in the 13Fs for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity) but as we’ve seen these are no ordinary launches,” <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1790391049560498410" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in a May 14 X post. “Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-investment-returns-retirement-pensions" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin returns “too significant to ignore” for world’s retirement plans</a>
The SEC filing followed similar reports from major banks, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, who <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-shares-spot-bitcoin-etf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">disclosed less than $1 million combined</a> in spot BTC ETFs. Susquehanna International Group reported it <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/susquehanna-international-group-1-billion-bitcoin-etfs-portfolio" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">purchased more than $1 billion</a> worth of shares of the spot crypto ETFs in the first quarter of 2024. The investments were comprised of shares of GBTC, IBIT, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF.
The SEC approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs on U.S. exchanges in January. Many experts expect the commission to decide whether to approve a spot Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) exchange-traded fund by May 23, when the final deadline for an application from asset manager VanEck approaches.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/get-bitcoin-or-die-tryin-why-hip-hop-stars-love-crypto/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Get Bitcoin or die tryin’: Why hip hop stars love crypto</a>

State of Wisconsin reports $164M investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on May 14, 2024

CoinDCX DeFi Arm Okto To Launch Native Token With Massive Airdrop

No Ties To OpenAI: Worldcoin Drops 9% As Top Trader Issues Warning

Solana Price Set To Plunge! SOL Price To Retest $125 In May?

On Chain Data Suggests KangaMoon Price Could Overtake Ripple Soon, Is This Possible?

Biden Orders “China-linked” Crypto Mining Company Near U.S. Military Base to Stop Operations

Ripple SEC News: XRP Institutional Sales Discounts, Agreement to Sell, & Other Key Details Sealed

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!