The Wisconsin State Investment Board, which manages a more than $140.000 billion hedge fund, has investments in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.
The state agency's investment in one of the leading Bitcoin exchange-traded funds was revealed in a 13F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this document it was revealed that the Wisconsin State Investment Board invested $100 million in the Bitcoin spot ETF launched by BlackRock in January, after the approval given by the SEC to these investment funds based on cryptocurrencies.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted the state agency's investment as a new milestone for the Bitcoin market.
The state of Wisconsin invests in Bitcoin
In his X account, the expert commented that these types of state agencies do not enter a cash ETF until a year after the fund's launch, when it has gained greater liquidity. However, he illustrated that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have not been an ordinary ETF launch.
Balchunas also commented that the entry of the Wisconsin State Board of Investment into the Bitcoin spot ETF market It is a good signal, in general, for the growth of this market, since these types of institutions tend to move in a “herd,” according to the expert.
La investment of $100 million dollars of the state agency in the IBIT, from BlackRock, represents about 0,07% of the funds currently managed by the state, according to available data. With this investment, Wisconsin now owns 2.450.400 shares in IBIT.
Hedge funds continue to enter the spot ETF market
In addition to the recent investment disclosed by the Wisconsin State Board of Investments, Balchunas also reported on the entry of Boston, Massachusetts-based hedge fund Bracebridge Capital into Bitcoin spot ETFs.
According to the expert, the fund has allocated an investment of $262 million to Ark Invest's Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB). He also indicated that the hedge fund is the largest owner of BlackRock's IBIT fund, with an $81 million stake in that exchange-traded fund. Lastly, he indicated that Bracebridge Capital also has $20 million invested in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), from Grayscale Investments.
“Basically, they went crazy,” Balchunas commented on his X account.
To date, hundreds of companies have disclosed their investments in the main Bitcoin ETFs, Balchunas commented, which is quite surprising, considering that these investment funds have been trading on the market for just under half a year. BlackRock's IBIT fund already has 250 participants, said the expert, and there is still 1 week left of 13F filings, in which more companies and investment funds can reveal to the SEC that they have stakes in Bitcoin ETFs.
827.000 BTC in reserves in ETFs
Bitcoins in reserves in exchange-traded funds have reached the 827.000 BTC mark, which represents almost the 4% of all existing units of Bitcoin, according to data consulted on the Bitcoin Treasuries platform. The value of this amount of bitcoins, considering the current price of the cryptocurrency in the market, is $51.080 billion.
Main image of Wisconsin Great River Road
