As a researcher with experience in the financial industry, I find the recent disclosures by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) about their investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by Grayscale and BlackRock to be an intriguing development. The fact that a large institutional investor like SWIB has taken a position in these ETFs suggests growing confidence and acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a viable asset class among traditional financial institutions.
As a crypto investor, I’d rephrase that statement like this: I recently learned that the Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) has disclosed holdings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by Bitcoin (BTC) from both Grayscale and BlackRock in their portfolio.
In a SEC filing dated May 14, the Wisconsin trust fund manager revealed it owned over 2.4 million units of the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and over a million units of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The value of these holdings was approximately $100 million for IBIT and $64 million for GBTC. This filing implied that the Wisconsin Retirement System might have crypto investments through these two asset management companies.
According to the SWIB’s latest report, they oversaw over $156 billion worth of assets as of December 2023, approximately 48% of which were allocated to public equity investments. The remaining investments encompassed stocks in companies such as Coinbase, MicroStrategy, and Cleanspark. However, it is important to note that the data disclosed by this state entity may not be entirely reliable or comprehensive, as emphasized by the SEC.
“Typically, large financial institutions don’t join 13F filings for about a year after an ETF’s launch when the fund becomes more liquid. However, as Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted in a May 14 post, these aren’t ordinary launches. This is a positive indication, suggesting that more institutions may follow suit.”
Major banks like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase disclosed holdings under $1 million collectively in Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) through their SEC filings. In contrast, Susquehanna International Group revealed they bought over a billion dollars’ worth of shares in these same crypto ETFs during the first quarter of 2024. Their investments consisted of GBTC, IBIT, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF.
In early January, the SEC gave its approval for the sale and trading of Bitcoin spot ETFs on American exchanges. Experts predict that the SEC will make a decision regarding the approval of a similar Ether (ETH) ETF by May 23rd, which is the final deadline for an application submitted by asset manager VanEck.
Read More
- Top gainers and losers
- DOP PREDICTION. DOP cryptocurrency
- LDO PREDICTION. LDO cryptocurrency
- JASMY PREDICTION. JASMY cryptocurrency
- STOG PREDICTION. STOG cryptocurrency
- KAI PREDICTION. KAI cryptocurrency
- MOCHI PREDICTION. MOCHI cryptocurrency
- SILLY PREDICTION. SILLY cryptocurrency
- ETH PREDICTION. ETH cryptocurrency
- DERO PREDICTION. DERO cryptocurrency
2024-05-14 21:30