The Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds, acquired shares of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) worth $461.2 million in 2024, according to official reports. This marks one of the first investments by a major sovereign wealth fund in Bitcoin.
Mubadala manages assets exceeding $280 billion. As a sovereign wealth fund, the state investment company focuses on building and managing a diverse and economically broad investment portfolio. By the fourth quarter of 2024, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund had acquired over $460 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), as revealed in the mandatory 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Subscribe to our newsletter
The best articles of the week, directly delivered into your mailbox.
Sovereign wealth funds position themselves
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) manage and invest a country's excess reserves to generate long-term financial returns and promote economic stability. Globally, more than 100 sovereign wealth funds collectively manage around $12 trillion in assets. In addition to Mubadala, several other sovereign wealth funds have already invested in the crypto sector:
- Norges Bank Investment Management: The manager of Norway's $1.5 trillion oil fund holds $500 million in Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) stock.
- GIC and Temasek: The two Singaporean sovereign wealth funds have indirect exposure through investments in the Coinbase crypto exchange, crypto investment firm Amber Group, selective infrastructure investments, and direct Bitcoin holdings.
- Public Investment Fund (PIF): Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has invested in crypto exchanges and blockchain-based financial platforms.
Asset managers increase Bitcoin exposure
Mubadala is not the only institutional investor entering Bitcoin. Various asset managers, ranging from wealth management firms to hedge funds and pension funds, increased their exposure to U.S. Bitcoin ETFs in Q4 2024. For instance, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, a state pension fund, doubled its Bitcoin holdings to $330 million. Additionally, the investment firm of renowned hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones increased its allocation in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF to $440 million – about 0.8% of its total portfolio.
According to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, Mubadala is now the seventh-largest known investor in the iShares Bitcoin Fund (IBIT). Among the billion-dollar positions in the ETF are Goldman Sachs and Millennium Management. The rather risk-averse stance of these two asset managers suggests a delta-neutral strategy, profiting from the difference between spot and futures prices (arbitrage).
Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company, is now the 7th largest known holder of @Blackrock's Bitcoin ETF ( $IBIT) at $461.23 million https://t.co/skuQaInY88 pic.twitter.com/N8PeC7NrHv
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 14, 2025
