Why Are Sovereign Wealth Funds Going Gaga Over Bitcoin ETFs? The $408M Bet You Won’t Believe

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In a move that’s about as subtle as a herd of elephants in a china shop, Abu Dhabi’s fancy-pants sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, decided to double down on crypto in early 2025. Because who doesn’t love a bit of digital gold, right? They plonked some more cash into BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF — yes, the one with the slightly more glamorous name, IBIT.

A shiny new filing with the usual suspects at the SEC revealed Mubadala added a whopping 491,439 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, bringing their total to a staggering 8,726,972 shares as of March 31. Because what’s better than owning nearly nine million slices of a Bitcoin pie? Apparently, just over $28.8 million worth of slices. It’s like buying a yacht — but in stocks.

All in all, their first-quarter stash was valued at roughly $28.8 million when purchased, nudging the total Q1 holdings to a jaw-dropping $408.5 million. Though, fair warning, they did dip from $436.9 million at the end of last year. Why? Because Bitcoin’s market price decided to take a tiny nap — market fluctuations, darling. But don’t worry, it’s now valued at about $512 million. Because nothing says confidence like flipping numbers on a spreadsheet while sipping a martini.

Institutional Crypto Party: Bitcoin ETFs Are the New Black

While the valuation did a little dance downwards, the big players are still throwing money into this digital casino. BlackRock’s IBIT just keeps growing, with over $65.4 billion buddies under its belt — a number that makes your eyes widen more than a headline about “Elon’s Latest Tweet.”

Mubadala’s antics aren’t unique; they’re just the cool kids at the crypto lunch. Hong Kong’s Avenir has also jumped into the deep end with 14.7 million IBIT shares (up from 11.3 million), valued at a nifty $691 million. Meanwhile, Citadel, that relentless investment beast, doubled its stake from 1.1 million to 3.1 million IBIT shares, just to keep things spicy.

Strategic Giants Playing Poker — Who Believes What?

While Citadel’s holdings may be like a game of “Pass the Parcel” (holding on behalf of clients), Mubadala owns its shares with all the conviction of a person who just found a Bitcoin wallet under their mattress. It’s like the difference between buying a single chocolate bar and owning the chocolate factory.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has become the darling of the US spot Bitcoin market, pulling in over $45.5 billion since January 2024 — and now managing a cool $65.4 billion. Why? Because everyone wants a piece of the crypto pie, even if they occasionally nibble on their own fingers. Other big players like Millennium Management are trimming down (from 29.8 million to 17.5 million IBIT shares), probably on the advice of their over-caffeinated analysts. And Goldman Sachs is sitting pretty, with 30.8 million shares — roughly the size of a small country.

Some institutions, like Wisconsin’s Investment Board, have decided to play hard to get and cut their $321 million stake. But don’t jump to conclusions — these moves are often just dated spring cleaning rather than a sign that they’ve suddenly lost faith in Bitcoin. Many are still holding on to other crypto assets, because apparently, digital currencies are the new black in high finance.

According to the ever-wise MacroScope, these reshuffles are mostly about rebalancing and managing liquidity — not about giving up on the crypto dream. The fact that big-name sovereign funds and institutional managers keep piling into Bitcoin ETFs suggests this isn’t some passing phase, folks. It’s the start of a very serious love affair.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

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2025-05-17 10:16