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Wisconsin Sells Entire $350M Spot Bitcoin ETF Stake
The move came after the state investment board doubled its exposure to spot bitcoin ETFs late last year as markets fell.
Updated May 16, 2025, 4:14 p.m. Published May 16, 2025, 12:35 p.m.
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What to know:
- The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) exited its entire position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
- SWIB, one of the first U.S. state pension funds to invest in a spot bitcoin ETF, had doubled its exposure to bitcoin in late 2024.
- Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investments, increased its stake in BlackRock’s IBIT in the first quarter of 2025.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), one of the first U.S. state pension funds to invest in a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, exited its position entirely in the first quarter as the price of the largest cryptocurrency fell about 12%.
At end of 2024, the board held more than 6 million shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a position valued at around $350 million based on recent prices. That stake is now gone, according to its latest 13F filing.
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The offload occurred less than a year after Wisconsin made headlines as an early institutional adopter of the newly approved crypto investment vehicles and stands in contrast to the board’s activity just months earlier. In late 2024, SWIB more than doubled its exposure to bitcoin by raising its IBIT holdings from about 2.9 million to over 6 million shares.
The board added indirect exposure to bitcoin via Strategy (MSTR) shares. In the first quarter it added 26,571 MSTR shares, worth around $10.5 million.
Established in 1951, SWIB manages over $160 billion in assets, serving Wisconsin state employees through the Wisconsin Retirement System and other funds.
In contrast, Mubadala Investments, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, increased its stake in BlackRock’s IBIT in the first quarter of the year. The fund, its latest 13F shows, added in a little over 490,000 shares valued at around $29 million.
Bitcoin has risen 27% to trade near $103,750 since the end of the quarter.
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What to know:
- Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone warns that collapsing crypto prices and a potential bitcoin slide toward $10,000 could signal mounting financial stress and foreshadow a U.S. recession.
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- Market analyst Jason Fernandes counters that a drop to $10,000 bitcoin would likely require a severe systemic shock and recession, calling such an outcome a low-probability tail risk compared with a milder reset or consolidation.
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