Michigan Becomes Second State Whose Pension Fund Owns Bitcoin

As a seasoned financial analyst with over two decades of experience in the industry, I have witnessed numerous market trends come and go. The recent investment by Michigan’s pension fund into Bitcoin through the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF is an intriguing development that highlights the evolving perspective of institutional investors towards cryptocurrencies.


Michigan’s state pension fund, which is among the ten largest in the United States, has allocated $6.6 million towards Bitcoin, the premier cryptocurrency, by investing in the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) labeled as ARKB.

After the green light for Bitcoin ETFs was given, institutional investors have grown more confident in investing in this emerging asset category, as noted by U.Today. According to Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, pension funds may soon find it necessary to allocate some resources towards Bitcoin.

The latest investment didn’t significantly affect Bitcoin’s price because of its modest amount. Bitcoin is presently valued at $67,415, having approached the $68,000 mark just hours prior.

In May, Wisconsin’s pension fund broke new ground by investing $160 million in Bitcoin through BlackRock’s Institutional Bitcoin Investment Trust (IBIT).

The Jersey City pension fund is currently revising documents for the purpose of investing a segment of its assets into Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

Thousands of American pension funds collectively manage a whopping $27 trillion. 

As a researcher studying global financial trends, I’ve come across an intriguing development outside the United States: pension funds are considering Bitcoin as a potential investment. To give you an example, Japan’s government pension fund announced in March that they were examining Bitcoin as an option for their portfolio.

A cautionary tale 

Despite growing confidence among institutional investors, painful reminders from the past bull market persist. For instance, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan lost $90 million by investing in FTX, a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange. Being an early adopter of this lightly regulated sector, OTPP learned a costly lesson with their investment having minimal impact on their substantial $190 billion asset base.

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2024-07-26 23:01