“Pension funds are beginning to cautiously invest in Bitcoin, suggesting that even traditionally conservative areas of finance cannot ignore the potentially high returns of cryptocurrencies.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Pension funds are beginning to cautiously invest in Bitcoin, suggesting that even traditionally conservative areas of finance cannot ignore the potentially high returns of cryptocurrencies. This was reported by the Financial Times newspaper. Among the largest holders of crypto-focused U.S. stock markets are Wisconsin and Michigan pension plans. Some pension funds in the UK and Australia have also recently made small investments in Bitcoin through funds or derivatives. Experts say Bitcoin’s rise last year, which more than doubled to $100,000, has caught the attention of even conservative fund managers.Advertisement: Cryptocurrency analysts predict a further doubling in price this year amid the arrival of a pro-cryptocurrency Trump administration. The president-elect has promised to make the US the “global bitcoin superpower” and end regulatory pressure on the sector. Matt Scott, a consultant at Mercer, which advises pension funds in the UK, said: “We’ve had a flurry of inquiries since election day – fund managers don’t want to be left out if there’s a hot asset on the market that they don’t know anything about.” . Most pension funds use regulated exchange-traded funds (ETFs), approved last year, which invest in cryptocurrencies on behalf of investors and track the price of tokens such as Bitcoin and Etherium.Advertisement: At the end of September, the Wisconsin Investment Board was the 12th largest shareholder of Bitcoin ETF by BlackRock, whose stake is now worth about $155 million after the fund jumped 50% this quarter. The state of Michigan ranks sixth among shareholders of Grayscale’s Etherium-ETF, with a stake valued at $12.9 million as of November. Michigan is also the 11th-largest holder of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, run by investor Kathy Wood, which is up 14% since the election. The return of pension funds to cryptocurrencies comes after heavy losses during the market crisis two years ago. In the UK, consultancy Cartwright reported its first Bitcoin transaction, when a small £50m pension company invested around £1.5m directly in Bitcoin, rather than through an ETF, hoping for high returns to cover a funding shortfall. Sam Roberts, director of investment consulting at Cartwright, noted that while the pensions industry is moving slowly, this could be a “very interesting year” in terms of fund decisions to invest in cryptocurrencies. According to him, more than 50 individual depositors have asked the company to transfer their pensions entirely to cryptocurrency.