The State of Wisconsin’s Investment Board has upped its exposure to Bitcoin by buying more shares in a prominent crypto ETF. 

A regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the SWIB now owns over 6 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fund, worth $335.9 million as of this writing.

Last year, the SWIB disclosed it had bought shares from both the BlackRock and Grayscale Bitcoin ETFs collectively worth $163 million at the time, but Friday’s filing shows that its crypto exposure now is exclusively with IBIT.

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The SWIB is responsible for the citizens’ pension funds and other trusts in the Midwestern state. It makes all kinds of investments, from tech stocks to gold. 

The SEC last year approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, allowing the products to trade on American stock exchanges after a decade of denials. Investors can now buy shares that track the price of Bitcoin and not have to worry about storing the asset themselves. 

Since their approval, investor capital has flooded the space and Bitcoin has broken new all-time price highs, most recently marking a peak just shy of $109,000 in January. 

David Solomon is the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Image: Flickr/Creative Commons

Goldman Sachs Doubles Down on Bitcoin ETFs, Increases Holdings by 120% in Q4

Goldman Sachs has significantly ramped up its Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) holdings, according to its latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Wall Street giant now holds $1.57 billion across various Bitcoin ETFs, up 121.1% from the $710 million reported in Q3. The bank’s largest exposure lies in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), where it now holds 24.07 million shares worth $1.27 billion, a more than 88% jump in shares since its last filing. F...

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Institutional investors are now able to access the crypto space via the regulated funds. 

Other American pension funds are also buying exposure to crypto. Last year, for example, the State of Michigan Retirement System disclosed that it had bought shares in both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. 

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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