Bitcoin
Wisconsin Pension Fund Now Includes Bitcoin
The Wisconsin pension fund added bitcoin to its balance sheets, purchasing more than $160 million worth of shares from two newly approved funds earlier this year.
US Securities and Exchange filings from the Wisconsin State Investment Board show that between Jan. 1 and March 31, it purchased just over $99 million worth of shares in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, from investment giant Blackrock. The Investment Board, known as SWIB, also purchased about $64 million worth of another bitcoin ETF from Grayscale.
A SWIB spokesperson told WPR it does not comment on specific assets or acquisitions.
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Marquette University associate professor emeritus of finance David Krause said there is a distinction between buying bitcoin itself and buying shares of a bitcoin ETF. People can buy bitcoins directly and store them in a digital wallet, but Krause said to think of bitcoin ETFs more like a mutual fund. He said the ETF’s shares are tied to the price of bitcoin, but investors do not actually own the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin ETFs, like those purchased by SWIB, were approved by the SEC on January 10.
“They are traded on exchanges,” Krause said. “So, they have liquidity just like shares. They are also regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This gives investors some confidence that they are not dealing with directly purchasing an asset.”
While $160 million is a lot of money, Krause said it’s a small fraction of Wisconsin’s overall pension fund. At the end of December, SWIB held more than US$155 billion in assetswith the vast majority representing Wisconsin Retirement System assets.
“Like any good portfolio manager, you want to diversify,” Krause said. “And now that bitcoin has been around for over a decade, we are aware that it not only offers quite strong returns – sometimes over periods of time quite phenomenal returns – but it also has diversification capabilities. It doesn’t move directly, in conjunction with stocks and bonds.”
However, bitcoin is notoriously volatile. In 2021, the price of one bitcoin peaked at nearly $66,000 before falling to around $16,000 in 2022. This year, it reached a new high of around $71,000.
Krause said it is a “big deal” for SWIB to get involved with bitcoin funds because it is considered one of the most highly regarded pension funds in the country.
“I can guarantee that most institutional money managers have realized this,” Krause said. “Pension Magazine highlighted this just a few days ago that Wisconsin did it. Therefore, I am quite confident that almost everyone who runs large pension funds or institutional funds is aware that SWIB has taken this action.”
Mark Fedenia, associate professor of finance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, said the move provides “institutional validation for investments in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.”
“SWIB’s investment could increase confidence among other pension funds regarding the legitimacy and potential of Bitcoin ETFs,” said Fedenia. “Seeing a well-regarded institution like SWIB take the plunge could alleviate concerns about volatility, regulatory risks and the overall investment thesis for Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin, which was created in 2009, is “mined” using high-powered computers to verify online transactions using cryptocurrency. Bitcoin mines consume substantial amounts of electricity. In addition to its volatility, critics have pointed to its energy consumption, wasteful electronics and its use by criminal hackers as a form of payment following ransomware attacks.
In Wisconsin, some local communities have turned to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a way to reinvigorate their local economies. In 2022, the owners of a rural hydroelectric plant in Jackson County partnered with New York-based Digital Power Optimization to start a cryptocurrency mine at Lake Arbutus.
Editor’s note: WPR employees are participants in the Wisconsin Retirement System.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and Wisconsin Educational Communications Council.
Bitcoin
‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
Bitcoin has surged again this year under former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcoinalthough it fell again this week to below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
Forbes Digital Assets
Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
Bitcoin
Large Bitcoin (BTC) Holders Added $5.4 Billion Worth of BTC in July, Data Shows
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Bitcoin
Peter Schiff criticizes Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin hype by U.Today
U.Today – Renowned economist and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has criticized Michael Saylor’s recent hype about the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies as a strategic treasury asset by corporations.
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and president of MicroStrategy, recently shared his enthusiasm on X about the growing adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
Citing a comment made by Bitcoin investor Bill Miller in a recent interview with CNBC, Saylor tweeted: “We now have more companies coming forward and saying we will put Bitcoin on our balance sheet as a strategic treasury asset.”
However, not everyone shares Saylor’s enthusiasm. Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic and gold bull, was quick to respond with his usual skepticism. In a pointed tweet, Schiff argued: “Bitcoin is neither strategic nor appropriate as a treasury asset. Companies should not risk shareholder funds. They should pay dividends and let shareholders risk their own money.”
Bitcoin enthusiasts are not intimidated
However, Schiff’s criticism shouldn’t deter Bitcoin enthusiasts, who often take Schiff’s words with a pinch of salt. To put things in context, Michael Saylor began buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to money. Saylor’s company, MicroStrategy, is among the largest public holders of Bitcoin in the world. As of June 20, it held 226,331 BTC, purchased for around $8.33 billion at an average price of $36,798.
Over the weekend, Schiff was surprised when 87% of the more than 11,000 Bitcoin holders who responded to his X survey said they would not sell any of their Bitcoin even if the price dropped more than 99% to $120. They said not only would they not sell, but that they would continue to buy even when prices dropped.
Schiff unexpectedly revealed that “the main selling point for investors to buy Bitcoin is its excellent past performance record.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,067, having reached all-time highs of nearly $74,000 in mid-March.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Falls as ETF Flows Reverse, Mt. Gox Moves Billions
In a week of drastic fluctuations, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at US$66,250, down 0.9% in European trading.
This volatility comes on the heels of a significant surge above $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced in a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump’s announcement to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president has temporarily sent the cryptocurrency market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded which caused investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off of about 8% was triggered when the US Marshals Service moved $2 billion in Bitcoin for new wallets.
This move has reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Bitcoin liquidation from Mt. Gox. Early this morning, Mt. Gox administrator transferred US$2.2 billion value of your BTC assets in a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the US Bitcoin ETF spot market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, Bitcoin spot funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. The total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) is up 8.6% in the past 24 hours, hitting over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko. data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism around a potential deal in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC’s actions, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding “Third-Party Cryptocurrency Securities,” which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
On a market analysis noteSingapore-based cryptocurrency trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will continue to be a key focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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