Wisconsin’s Investment in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Has Grown to 6M Shares, More Than Twice the Previous Amount.

Wisconsin Investment Board Increases Stake in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF to 6 Million Shares

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) has expanded its holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), reaching over 6 million shares as of December 31, 2024. This marks a significant increase from the 2.9 million shares held just three months earlier, as disclosed in a 13F filing on Friday.

At the current price of $56.10 per share, SWIB’s stake is valued at approximately $340 million. If bitcoin maintains its current value near $98,000, this investment would be worth around $588 million.

In 2024, SWIB became the first public pension fund to report purchases of bitcoin ETFs, acquiring 94,562 shares of IBIT along with shares in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which it later liquidated.

Following Wisconsin’s lead, other state pension funds, such as Michigan’s retirement system, have also revealed their investments in bitcoin ETFs, including the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and other Grayscale products.

SWIB, which was established in 1951, manages more than $156 billion in assets, including funds from the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and the State Investment Fund (SIF). The board oversees investments on behalf of state employees and various other trust funds.

Today marks the deadline for institutional investors managing at least $100 million in assets to report their quarterly holdings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These filings are eagerly watched by the market to gauge the level of adoption of bitcoin ETFs by large institutional investors since their launch in 2024.

About The Author

Admin

See author's posts