According to a recent SEC filing, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board has raised its holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust.
The State of Wisconsin now owns about 2.9 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin, according to a U.S. SEC filing dated August 14—a trust with a $99.1 million approximate value.
With the addition of 447,651 shares, SWIB’s IBIT holdings now stand at 2,898,051, indicating that the board expended almost $14 million purchasing additional shares.
With this action, the board has completely sold its 1,013,000 shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, signaling a change in SWIB’s investment approach.
The board, which oversees public money, now owns BlackRock’s BTC ETF. Earlier this year, they bought over a million shares of Grayscale GBTC for a total value of over $63.3 million.
The fact that SWIB chose to have direct exposure to Bitcoin through Spot ETFs indicates the growing institutional confidence in Bitcoin, as seen by the increase in IBIT holdings.
Wisconsin’s purchase highlights the increasing interest from institutions in Bitcoin-backed assets, and it might serve as a model for other organizations and governmental bodies to emulate.
The continuous investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs indicates a strong conviction in the cryptocurrency’s long-term potential, notwithstanding the recent price swings of Bitcoin.
