Standard Chartered Bank indirectly highlights the growing interest of Bitcoin government and state institutions in the first quarter of this year.
The bank noted that this increase will be possible through MicroStrategy (MSTR) stocks, supporting the goal of Bitcoin reaching $500,000 by 2029.
“The latest 13F data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supports a core paper that Bitcoin is being adopted by a wider range of institutional investors and costs $500,000 before President Donald Trump’s term ends,” the report, written by Jeffrey Kendrick, director of the bank’s Institute for Digital Assets.
According to Kendrick, as more investors access Bitcoin and volatility decreases, the portfolio will optimize its lower weight position against Bitcoin over time.
He said his interest in direct Bitcoin ETFs was “disappointing,” but his interest in micro strategic stocks was “very encouraging.”
The most notable ETF move came when the Wisconsin Investment Commission settled the entire BlackRock IBIT fund position, worth 3,400 BTC. The fund stands out as the most widely used Bitcoin ETF of government agencies. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based quasi-government agency Mubadara has increased its IBIT shares to 5,000 BTC, equivalent to 4,700 BTC.
But what really caught my eye was the government’s interest in MSTR stocks. According to Kendrick, some government agencies prefer to indirectly access BTC through companies such as MicroStrategy due to legal restrictions on purchasing Bitcoin directly.
In the first quarter of 2024, the Norwegian government’s pension fund, the Swiss National Bank, and the Korean pension and investment institutions were equivalent to MSTR stock, each equivalent of approximately 700 BTC. In the United States, pension funds in California, New York, North Carolina and Kentucky totaled around 1,000 BTC. Sweden and Liechtenstein also saw a slight increase, but France and Saudi Arabia also showed indirect interest in Bitcoin by purchasing small amounts of MSTR stocks for the first time.
“The data on the 13th floor shows that Bitcoin is a mature market and attracts new types of institutional investors. “When an institution buys Bitcoin, the price usually rises.”
*This is not investment advice.
