Big News for Bitcoin Adoption? Norwegian Government Increases Sovereign Fund’s BTC Exposure

The northern European country of Norway has a population of nearly 5.5 million. Moreover, the government’s investments for its citizens total some $1.7 trillion. A chunk of that is in Bitcoin stocks, and the government upped its holdings this year.

Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund’s Bitcoin Spree

Norway now indirectly owns 2,446 BTC through its investments in crypto stocks. That’s bullish news for Bitcoin. It paints an enticing picture of global sovereign support for the BTC price.

A recent report in Fortune Magazine details how the Norges Bank Investment Management fund has markedly increased its Bitcoin exposure after rebalancing its portfolio this year. The fund invests the nation’s significant oil revenues in profitable enterprises for Norway’s government.

Norway’s public fund slashed the nation’s holdings of Meta stock and other big tech giants (from which it made billions this year). After that, it moved the money into Web3 stocks like MicroStrategy, Coinbase, Block, and Marathon Digital.

Bitcoin Stocks Boost Norwegian Government’s Investments

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, said:

“The equity investments gave a very strong return in the first half of the year. The result was mainly driven by the technology stocks, due to increased demand for new solutions in artificial intelligence.”

Along with big tech stocks, Bitcoin delivered enormous returns to investors this year, coinciding with the quadrennial Bitcoin supply halving and the launch of several ETF products in the United States following approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to Fortune, the big moves increased Norway’s Bitcoin exposure by 62% in the first half of 2024. Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at Norwegian digital assets strategy firm K33 Research, recently broke down the math on Norway’s cryptocurrency investments in a post on X:

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (NBIM) indirectly owns 2,446 BTC, an increase of 938 BTC from December 31, 2023.

The growth likely originates from pre-determined algo-based sector weighting and risk diversification. It’s unlikely to stem from an intentional choice to amass… pic.twitter.com/8HBIbemgNU

— Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) August 14, 2024

“The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (NBIM) indirectly owns 2,446 BTC, an increase of 938 BTC from December 31, 2023,” Lunde wrote. The analyst noted that so much Bitcoin exposure “perfectly illustrates how bitcoin is maturing as an asset and getting woven into any well-diversified portfolio!”

Governments Do The Math

Meanwhile in the U.S., Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) recently proposed establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, a policy that got backing from the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.

In El Salvador, where Bitcoin is legal tender, President Nayib Bukele has bought up on-chain Bitcoin since 2021. Its strategy returned taxpayers there a 55% profit when Bitcoin price surged this year.

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