The State of Michigan Retirement System recently invested $6.6 million in 21Shares’ ARKB Bitcoin ETF. This disclosure comes as more US state pension funds are starting to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs. Michigan’s pension fund made this investment known in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, holding 110,000 ARKB shares, equivalent to 0.004% of its $143 billion pension fund.
Since the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading in January 2024, institutional investors have been showing more interest in cryptocurrencies. The total net assets of spot BTC ETFs have reached over $59.4 billion, representing 4.59% of the total Bitcoin supply. In the US, these ETFs have seen net inflows of $17.54 billion, indicating a growing trend of adoption.
Michigan is not the only state pension fund getting into the crypto ETF space. In May, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board disclosed an investment of over $99 million in a spot Bitcoin ETF. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop also announced plans to add Bitcoin ETFs to the city’s pension fund.
Bitcoin’s price has been on the rise, reaching $68,000 amid the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the conference, which could bring more attention to the cryptocurrency. The current surge in price, with a more than 5% increase in the past 24 hours, could lead to a retest of the $70,000 mark and potentially reach a new all-time high.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju believes that Bitcoin’s bull market phase could continue well into 2025. He noted that past cycles have had profit realization periods of about 18 months, and this current phase started four months ago. This indicates that there is still significant upside potential for Bitcoin in the coming years.
Overall, the investment by the State of Michigan Retirement System in Bitcoin ETFs reflects a broader trend among US state pension funds. As cryptocurrencies continue to gain mainstream acceptance, more institutional investors are looking to get exposure to this asset class. With Bitcoin’s price showing strong upward momentum, it will be interesting to see how these investments perform in the long run.