Abu Dhabi invests $437M in Bitcoin ETFs, Wisconsin doubles its holdings

In recent 13F form filings, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board revealed exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Mubadala’s filing shows over 8.2 million shares of IBIT worth nearly $437 million. According to the sovereign fund’s official website, this represents 0.14% of the $302 billion under its management.

Notably, reports surfaced during the Abu Dhabi Bitcoin Summit in November that Gulf Oil nations were investing in Bitcoin.

Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, highlighted that the report concerns one of Abu Dhabi’s many sovereign wealth funds. 

Other relevant investment entities in its jurisdiction include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), and the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA).

According to their latest financial reports, these four sovereign wealth funds are estimated to manage $1.6 trillion collectively. 

Sina G., COO of 21st Capital, said Abu Dhabi’s move marks the start of the “nation-state Bitcoin adoption race.”

Moreover, the investment confirms Abu Dhabi’s efforts to become a relevant jurisdiction in crypto. The capital of the United Arab Emirates recently integrated Tether USD (USDT) stablecoin into its financial system and laid the ground for a joint effort from Coinbase and Chainlink to boost institutional adoption in the region.

Meanwhile, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) revealed increased exposure to Bitcoin via IBIT by nearly 110% compared to its second quarter 13F form. In SWIB’s latest filing, the number of shares jumped from 2,898,051 to 6,060,351.

As of Dec. 31, the state fund’s Bitcoin exposure was worth $321.5 million, and IBIT is the only Bitcoin ETF to which it has exposure since the second quarter after realizing 1 million shares of Grayscale’s GBTC.

SWIB is an independent state agency that manages the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System, the State Investment Fund (SIF), and other state funds.

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