The U.S. state of Wisconsin has recently revealed that it invested in a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund leading to speculation that other states could follow.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) reported investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Grayscale.
According to SWIBs Form 13F for Q1 2024, the $156 billion pension fund purchased $64 million worth of Grayscale’s GBTC, and $99.2 million worth of BlackRock’s IBIT, with a total Bitcoin investment of just over $163 million.
The filing suggested that the crypto investment could be used for the Wisconsin Retirement System.
Other States to Follow?
On May 15, macroeconomics analyst “Macro Scope” suggested that other states would start to follow suit now that BTC investments can be easily accessed through regulatory-approved spot ETFs.
“Every state is doing this math right now. And the disclosure yesterday by Wisconsin will now become part of those conversations.”
The comments come in response to member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Keith Ammon, extolling the virtues of Bitcoin investments earlier this week.
On May 13, Ammon asked, “Should the State of New Hampshire investigate allocating a small percentage of its reserves into a Bitcoin ETF?”
He added that hindsight was a great thing, but had the State of New Hampshire put just 5% of its 2016 “rainy day fund” into Bitcoin and held it, “that amount of BTC today would be worth nearly half a billion dollars, a 10,000% ROI.”
Ammon, who commented on dollar devaluation on May 16, continued to say that New Hampshire has outstanding liabilities to the state pension system of $1.25 billion, asking how they could climb out of that hole.
“The answer may be staring us in the face, and it’s worthy of further investigation.”
Big Banks, Funds Buying BTC
In a separate post to X, Macro Scope said that Wisconsin’s disclosure was getting highlighted in industry publications before adding, “This will be widely discussed in the public and private investment sectors in coming weeks and months.”
On May 15, crypto industry observer “Marty Party” commented:
“Don’t underestimate this State of Wisconsin Investment Board buying Bitcoin ETFs. This will start a chain reaction,”
The Wisconsin SEC filing followed similar filings from major banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, disclosing around $760,000 and $143,000 invested respectively in spot Bitcoin ETFs.
On May 15, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Millennium Management, revealed a whopping $2 billion in holdings in spot Bitcoin ETFs.