Wisconsin Investment Board Increases Bitcoin ETF Stake to 6M Shares, Valued at $340M
Wisconsin’s State Investment Board (SWIB) has ramped up its holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), disclosing that it now owns over 6 million shares as of December 31, 2024. This marks a significant rise from approximately 2.9 million shares reported three months earlier, according to a recent 13F filing.
At IBIT’s current price of $56.10 per share, the value of the investment sits at around $340 million, with the potential to rise to $588 million if bitcoin remains around its current price of $98,000.
In 2024, SWIB made history as the first state investment fund to purchase bitcoin ETFs, initially acquiring 94,562 shares of IBIT, along with shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which it later liquidated.
Following Wisconsin’s lead, other institutional investors, including the State of Michigan Retirement System, have also disclosed their holdings in bitcoin ETFs, such as the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and Grayscale’s offerings.
Established in 1951, SWIB is responsible for managing over $156 billion in assets, including funds for the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and the State Investment Fund (SIF). The board manages investment strategies for state employees and various trust funds.
The filing deadline for institutional investors with portfolios exceeding $100 million is today, as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This filing will help analysts track whether more traditional finance firms have embraced bitcoin ETFs as part of their portfolios since their launch last year.
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