South Korea's National Pension Service Invested $20M in Coinbase Shares in Q3

By Stephen Graves

South Korea's national pension fund invested almost $20 million in Coinbase shares in Q3 2023, turning a 40% profit, according to reports in local media.

Citing a recent U.S. SEC filing, local publication News1 reported that South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) invested nearly ₩26 billion ($19.92 million) into Coinbase's stock, purchasing 282,673 COIN shares at an average price of $70.5.

Coinbase shares currently trade at $98.15, up almost 40% from the NPS's average purchase price.

Per News1, the NPS, which holds over $750 billion in assets under management as of June 2023, has a policy of not directly investing in crypto assets; crypto stocks are widely considered a proxy for firms that wish to gain exposure to crypto prices without investing in them directly.

NPS is one of several large pension funds to show an interest in adding cryptocurrency or related assets to its portfolio.

In the United States, two large California pension funds have also invested in Coinbase. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) hold 242,922 and 234,492 shares of Coinbase, respectively. The holdings for each were valued at about $16 million.

Back in 2021, the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF) became the first U.S. pension fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, with a $25 million investment in Bitcoin.

Coinbase reported a third-quarter loss of $2.2 million in 2023, posting better-than-expected financial results for the quarter; a year earlier it reported losses of $545 million for the quarter.

Asset managers including BlackRock have tapped Coinbase as a custodian for their spot Bitcoin ETF applications, with widespread optimism around the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF helping to propel Bitcoin's price to almost $38,000 in recent days.

The crypto exchange has also benefited from the growth of its layer-2 network Base, which has hit $590 million in total value locked (TVL), per L2Beat.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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