Michigan pension fund discloses $6.6 million in Bitcoin ETFs

• The State of Michigan Retirement System holds $6.6 million in 21Shares’ ARKB ETF.
• Michigan pension fund’s disclosure adds to growing number of US state pension funds buying spot Bitcoin ETFs.
• BTC has surged to $68,000 again amid the Bitcoin 2024 conference.

The State of Michigan Retirement System has disclosed an investment of $6.6 million in ARKB, the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund by 21Shares.

Michigan’s state pension fund revealed the ETF investment in a 13-F form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Per the filing, the pension fund holds 110,000 ARKB shares, whose equivalent value of $6.6 million represents about 0.004% of the $143 billion the state holds in its pension fund.

US state pension funds add Bitcoin ETFs

The SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading in January 2024, opening the cryptocurrency to further adoption as institutional investors took notice.

Since then, spot BTC ETFs have accumulated over $59.4 billion in total net assets, with these accounting for about 4.59% of the total Bitcoin supply. According to SosoValue data, the spot Bitcoin ETFs market in the US has seen total net inflows of over $17.54 billion.

The growing exposure and adoption is what the State of Michigan’s pension fund suggests with their ETF purchase. However, this isn’t the first US state to dive into the crypto ETF space via Bitcoin.

In May this year, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board disclosed an investment of over $99 million in spot Bitcoin ETF. The filing with the SEC showed the outlay was via BlackRock’s IBIT ETF. 

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has also revealed plans to add Bitcoin ETFs to the city’s pension fund.

Bitcoin price surges

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is set to garner more attention this week amid the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the conference on June 27, an event that will likely shed more light on his pro-crypto stance.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has surged by more than 5% in the past 24 hours to near $68,000 as bulls eye a fresh weekend bounce. The BTC price could retest the $70,000 mark and possibly target the all-time peak seen in March if bulls maintain the upside momentum.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said in a post on X on Friday that Bitcoin’s bull market phase could last well into 2025.

#Bitcoin Bull Cycle Likely Until Mid-2025

Old whales take profits during bull markets. Their selling brings new capital into accumulation addresses, raising realized prices.

Past cycles had profit realization periods of about 18 months. It started 4 months ago this time. pic.twitter.com/zkc8XxkmHi

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) July 26, 2024