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Jersey City Pension Fund Amends Regulatory Filings to Include Exposure to Bitcoin ETF
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has announced plans to invest a portion of the city’s pension fund in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a significant step toward integrating cryptocurrencies into municipal financial strategies.
In a social media posts On July 25, Fulop shared that the Jersey City pension fund is updating its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include Bitcoin ETFs. Jersey City is the second-largest city in the state of New Jersey.
The move follows a similar decision Wisconsin Pension Fund, which allocated 2% of its $156 billion in assets to Bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter. Experts believe other states will soon follow suit and diversify some of their portfolios with Bitcoin ETFs.
According to Fulop:
“The question of whether crypto/Bitcoin is here to stay has now largely been resolved, and crypto/Bitcoin has won.”
Bitcoin ETFs have seen remarkable performances since their launch, with By BlackRock IBITS recently surpassing the Nasdaq’s QQQ in terms of inflows for the year.
Fulop, who has been the city’s mayor since 2013, noted that he has long been a supporter of crypto and blockchain technology. He emphasized the immense potential of these innovations, saying:
“I’ve always been a supporter (albeit with ups and downs) of cryptocurrencies, but in general, beyond cryptocurrencies, I think blockchain is one of the most important technological innovations since the Internet.”
Earlier this year, the SEC approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs on U.S. exchanges, paving the way for public pension funds to consider such investments.
However, Jersey City and Wisconsin remain among the few public entities exploring this avenue despite expectations that others will follow in the third quarter. Additionally, Fulop did not mention any plans to invest in other cryptocurrencies or related assets, such as Ethereal ETFs, which started trading earlier this week.
While major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have shown limited engagement with Bitcoin ETFs, with total investments of less than $1 million, Fulop’s decision signals a growing acceptance and recognition of the digital asset’s potential.
As the city moves forward with SEC filings, the pension fund’s implementation of Bitcoin ETFs is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. Fulop expressed confidence that such investments will become more common in the future.
According to CryptoSlate data, Bitcoin reacted positively to the news and was trading at $66,000 at press time — reversing some of the day’s losses.
Bitcoin Market Data
As of press time, 12:37 am UTC on July 26, 2024, Bitcoin It is ranked first by market capitalization and the price is on 0.56% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of 1.3 trillion dollars with a 24-hour trading volume $38.29 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Cryptocurrency Market Summary
At press time, as of 12:37 UTC on July 26, 2024, the total cryptocurrency market is valued at 2.34 trillion dollars with a volume of 24 hours $91.79 billionBitcoin’s dominance is currently at 55.31%. Learn more about the cryptocurrency market ›