The Norwegian Government Pension Fund (commonly known as the Oil Fund), which has indirect investments in Bitcoin, increased its Bitcoin holdings by 62% to 2,446 BTC worth in the first half of this year, according to a senior analyst at K33 Research Vetle Lunde.
This represents an increase of 938 BTC since December 2023, when the company indirectly held the equivalent of 1,507 BTC.
The Norwegian Pension Fund is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with assets worth $1.7 trillion according to its latest report.
NIBM's Exposure to Bitcoin
Lunde attributes this growth to automated sector adjustments and risk diversification, rather than a deliberate strategy to increase Bitcoin holdings.
He explained:
“[This increase]is unlikely to have resulted from a deliberate choice to accumulate exposure. If increasing BTC exposure was the goal, we would have seen much more evidence of direct exposure efforts (and significantly larger exposures).”
Meanwhile, the fund’s bitcoin investments consist of investments in major bitcoin-related companies such as MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, Coinbase, and Block Inc.
During the first half of 2024, MicroStrategy's holdings increased from 0.67% to 0.89% as the firm increased its Bitcoin holdings by 37,181 BTC. Additionally, the fund increased its Coinbase stake from 0.49% to 0.83% and Block Corp. shares from 1.09% to 1.28%. It also added shares of Marathon Digital by 0.82%.
Lunde noted that the fund’s indirect bitcoin holdings reached 44,476 satoshis (about $27) per person as of the end of the first half of this year.
Other Fund Exposures
The Norwegian fund’s exposure to Bitcoin is in line with current trends seen at other pension funds, such as the Wisconsin Pension Fund, which are also increasing their exposure to the leading cryptocurrency.
Market observers noted that these investments reflect the growing acceptance of BTC as a viable alternative investment, a shift that began after the introduction of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) product in the United States earlier this year made the asset class a viable option among traditional investors.
Lunde explained that these developments indicate that “Bitcoin is maturing as an asset class and is becoming integrated into well-diversified portfolios.”
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