- Norway’s sovereign wealth fund — which is the largest in the world — has seen its indirect Bitcoin exposure explode in the past year by 153%.
- Financial research firm K33 says this growth isn’t so much due to the fund intentionally increasing its Bitcoin exposure, but rather reflects increased corporate and institutional adoption more generally.
- The fund saw record profits in 2024 of US$222 billion, driven largely by the stellar performance of tech stocks over the past 12-24 months.
According to data from financial research firm, K33, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global — the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund — has seen its indirect exposure to Bitcoin explode by 153%, equivalent to an additional 2,314 BTC, in the past year. The fund’s total indirect Bitcoin exposure now sits at 3,821 BTC.
Since 2020 the fund’s indirect Bitcoin exposure has grown from 796 BTC, then valued at US$23 million (AU$37 million), to just over US$350 million (AU$563 million) by the end of 2024.
The fund, which is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), doesn’t hold Bitcoin directly but it does have large holdings of crypto-focussed companies like MicroStrategy, Coinbase and Metaplanet. The past year has been good for many crypto-exposed companies and this in turn has resulted in the Norwegian fund’s indirect Bitcoin exposure growing considerably.
In a post on X / Twitter, K33’s Head of Research, Vetle Lunde, highlighted that it’s unlikely the Norwegian government fund specifically sought to increase its exposure to Bitcoin:
It is important to highlight that this exposure likely derives from rule-based sector weighting rather than a deliberate choice to prioritize BTC exposure.
Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33Related: Metaplanet Sets Record with Asia’s Largest Equity Raise for BTC as MicroStrategy Announces Strike Preferred Stock Offering
Crypto Is Maturing and Being More Widely Adopted, Says K33
K33 says the increase in the Norwegian fund’s Bitcoin exposure demonstrates that Bitcoin is gaining adoption across the board and any well-diversified portfolio will now probably have indirect exposure to the OG cryptocurrency.
NBIM’s indirect exposure is one of the strongest examples of how BTC is slipping into any well-diversified portfolio, and the growth is a testament to the market maturing and BTC ending up in any well-diversified portfolio, intended or not.
Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33So, what crypto-related shares does this fund hold? Data from NBIM’s website shows that by far the fund’s largest crypto-related holdings are MicroStrategy and Coinbase — holding about US$500 million (AU$803.7 million) worth of each of these stocks. Some of its smaller crypto-related holdings include about US$46 million (AU$74 million) of MARA Holdings and US$4.5 million (AU$7.23 million) of Metaplanet.
It also holds over US$14 billion (AU$22.5 billion) worth of Tesla stock, and while Tesla does hold some Bitcoin it’s not really specifically crypto-focussed like these other companies.
Related: World-largest State Pension Fund “Unintentionally” Buys Bitcoin
According to K33, the increase in the fund’s indirect Bitcoin exposure means it now holds 68,837 sats ($64) worth of Bitcoin per Norwegian citizen at the end of 2024.
Overall in 2024, the fund saw a profit of US$222 billion (AU$357 billion), which marked its second straight year of record gains. Speaking to Reuters, CEO of NBIM, Nicolai Tangen said 2024 had been “a very strong year” adding that much of the profit was driven by “massive gains from technology” over the past couple of years.
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