Jersey City Pension Fund to Invest in Bitcoin ETF

Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, has announced that the city’s pension fund will allocate a portion of its investments to Bitcoin ETFs.

Fulop also expressed his long-standing belief in cryptocurrency, although he had not publicly mentioned Bitcoin or other assets before July 25.

Jersey City updates filings with SEC

In a July 25th post on X, Mayor Fulop announced that they are updating paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow investment in Bitcoin ETFs.

Not my normal topic in a post, but I’ll share it anyway: the question of whether Crypto/Bitcoin is here to stay is largely over + crypto/Bitcoin won. The #JerseyCity the pension fund is in the process of updating filings with the SEC to allocate % of the fund to Bitcoin ETFs… https://t.co/5iNEqRqHGM

— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) July 25, 2024

While the exact percentage of the pension fund allocated to Bitcoin was not disclosed, Mayor Fulop indicated that it would be similar to Wisconsin’s 2% pension fund allocation. The process is expected to be completed by the end of summer.

Fulop expressed great confidence in the permanence of crypto and Bitcoin and emphasized his belief in the blockchain as a significant technological advance similar to the Internet.

A mid-May 13F filing with the SEC by the State of Wisconsin Board of Investments disclosed significant investments in crypto assets, including $100 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and nearly $64 million at Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The board also holds shares in crypto companies such as Coinbase, Block, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms.

Other smaller pension funds, such as the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund, which has about $5 billion in assets, have been involved in crypto investments for several years. Similarly, pension funds in Fairfax County, Virginia, have invested in the crypto sector, gaining exposure through VanEck’s financial income fund, which last year became a creditor of the crypto firm in bankruptcy genesis.

Crypto ETF interest is growing

In January, the SEC approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs on US exchanges. Despite this green light, only pension funds in Wisconsin and Jersey City appear to be exploring these crypto ETFs.

Meanwhile, Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg pointed out in May, it is unusual for large institutions to appear in 13F filings during the first year of an ETF’s launch due to liquidity considerations. However, the rapid interest in these spot Bitcoin ETFs suggests an exceptional launch, indicating that more institutions are likely to follow, as they often move in clusters.

Globally, public pension plans are also showing interest in cryptocurrencies. For example, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s largest with $1.4 trillion in assets, requested information on Bitcoin investments earlier this year.

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