Wisconsin Pension Fund Increases Bitcoin Exposure to $321 Million

According to Cointelegraph, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, responsible for managing the state's pension fund, has significantly increased its Bitcoin exposure to approximately $321 million. This development was revealed in a February 14, 2025, filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Previously, in a May 2024 SEC filing, the pension fund had disclosed holding $164 million in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). At that time, the fund possessed around 2.4 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $100 million, and 1 million shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), valued at $64 million. The latest filing indicates a strategic shift, with the fund now allocating all its Bitcoin exposure into IBIT, having divested from GBTC entirely. This move underscores a broader trend among pension funds to incorporate Bitcoin as a hedge against currency inflation and to diversify their portfolios. Despite Bitcoin's notorious volatility, pension funds, with their long-term investment horizons, are increasingly viewing Bitcoin as a viable asset for capturing long-term price appreciation while disregarding short-term fluctuations. Attorney Allie Itami from Lathrop GPM highlighted that state pension funds might find it easier to adopt cryptocurrencies compared to privately managed funds due to fiduciary restrictions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. Following Wisconsin's disclosure of Bitcoin exposure in May 2024, other state pension funds have also reported holdings in Bitcoin ETFs. For instance, in July 2024, the State of Michigan Retirement System disclosed $6.6 million in Bitcoin exposure, a small portion of its multibillion-dollar assets under management. Additionally, in October 2024, Florida's chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, urged the Florida State Board of Administration to consider allocating a portion of its assets to Bitcoin. More recently, in February 2025, North Carolina House of Representatives Speaker Destin Hall introduced a bill to permit the state treasury to invest in digital assets indirectly through ETFs. This legislative move reflects the growing acceptance and integration of digital assets within traditional financial systems.