State of Wisconsin’s investment board discloses nearly $100M of BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF

The holdings disclosure is the first from a state investment board

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The state of Wisconsin’s investment board disclosed holdings in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF on Tuesday. 

The 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the board bought $99 million, or roughly 2.4 million shares, of IBIT. The filing also revealed that the board holds roughly one million shares of Grayscale’s bitcoin ETF. 

According to its website, the agency is an investment organization that manages the Wisconsin Retirement System and the State Investment Funds alongside some smaller funds.

“SWIB has been successful in generating respectable returns and maintaining the trust of the beneficiaries and stakeholders of the funds we oversee,” the site said. 

SWIB declined to comment on the holdings in the disclosure. 

Investment managers are required to disclose their holdings in 13F forms if they manage $100 million or more. The filings show what firms bought and held through the last quarter. 

Read more: What 13F filings tell us about institutional appetite for bitcoin ETFs

Blockworks previously reported that BNY Mellon as well as BNP Paribas disclosed holdings, though both banks owned far less shares in comparison to Wisconsin’s disclosure on Tuesday. 

Paribas disclosed roughly 1,000 shares, and BNY Mellon had 20,000 shares of IBIT and 7,000 shares of Grayscale. 

Other investment managers have disclosed much larger holdings. Quattro Advisors, a Pittsburgh-based registered investment manager, disclosed 468,000 shares of IBIT, for example. 

On Monday, Wolverine Asset Management reported that it owned 874,000 shares of Fidelity’s bitcoin ETF. So far, that’s the largest Fidelity position that’s been disclosed. 

Investment managers have until mid-May to file their 13Fs. 

Updated May 14, 2024 at 3:05 pm ET: Noted that SWIB declined to comment, updated number of Grayscale shares.


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