State of Wisconsin Investment Board Increases IBIT Holdings to Nearly 2.9M Shares

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) has announced increasing its holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 447,651 shares.

The latest addition brings its total to over 2.89 million as of June 30, according to a recent SEC filing.

SWIB Expands Bitcoin Exposure

SWIB, an independent agency handling assets for Wisconsin’s retirement and state investment funds, has expanded its Bitcoin ETF investments beyond the 2.5 million shares reported at March’s end. Additionally, the filing reveals that SWIB has divested its 1 million shares of Grayscale’s GBTC from the first quarter.

In addition to IBIT, SWIB has invested in other cryptocurrency-related assets, including shares of Coinbase, Marathon Digital, Robinhood, and Block Inc.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen increased adoption despite the recent market downturn. The State of Michigan Retirement System reported on July 26 that it owns 110,000 shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), which is worth almost $6.6 million.

This constitutes only 0.004% of their total $143.9 billion assets under management as of December 2023.

Furthermore, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop also revealed plans to allocate part of the city’s pension fund to Bitcoin ETFs, marking a notable move towards incorporating cryptocurrency into municipal finance. On July 25, Fulop announced via social media that the city’s pension fund is amending its SEC filings to include Bitcoin ETFs. Jersey City, the second largest city in New Jersey, is taking this step to modernize its financial strategy.

BlackRock IBIT’s Adoption Curve

BlackRock’s introduction of the IBIT fund this year has been highly successful. Since its launch in January, IBIT has seen over $20 billion in net inflows, making it the fastest-growing spot Bitcoin fund to date. If the current accumulation trend continues, experts suggest that IBIT could potentially surpass the Bitcoin holdings of Satoshi Nakamoto in about a year.

Meanwhile, the latest development comes on the heels of Goldman Sachs disclosing holdings exceeding $400 million in US spot Bitcoin ETFs. This includes approximately $238 million in IBIT, $79.5 million in Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund (FBTC), and $35 million in GBTC.

According to the data compiled by Fintel, Millennium Management is the top holder of the IBIT fund, followed by Capula Management and Goldman Sachs.