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Wisconsin state holds $99 million in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF shares

May. 14, 2024

SWIB's bold move into Bitcoin ETFs reflects a growing trend among institutional investors.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) revealed its holdings of over $99 million worth of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) IBIT at the end of the first quarter, according to its 13F Form filings with the SEC. The amount is equivalent to 2,450,500 IBIT shares.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated through an X post that “big fish institutions”, such as state pensions, usually don’t get in the 13F forms for up to a year, when the ETF gets more liquidity. “Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds,” he added.

Wow, a state pension bought $IBIT in first quarter. Normally you don't get these big fish institutions in the 13Fs for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity) but as we've seen these are no ordinary launches. Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds https://t.co/leKVe2CK1S

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 14, 2024

SWIB is an independent state agency which is responsible for managing the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), State Investment Fund (SIF), and several other smaller trust funds. Their 13F Form discloses nearly $37.9 billion in holdings.

Notably, SWIB joins institutions such as UBS, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo on Bitcoin exposure through ETFs. However, as highlighted by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, the 13F Forms are a “snapshot” of these institutions’ holdings as of March 31, and they don’t account for short positions and derivatives.

Moreover, some of these holdings might not be related to a long position, as companies such as JPMorgan could be acting as market makers for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.

ETFs suffer outflows

As of May 13, the spot Bitcoin ETFs traded in the US suffered a daily outflow of 866 BTC, which is equivalent to $55 million, as reported by the X user identified as Lookonchain.

Despite the 292 BTC in inflows registered by IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, the ETFs managed by Grayscale, Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton witnessed a 1,158 outflow on the same day. The total amount of Bitcoin under management is 826,220 BTC.

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