Jersey City Pension Fund To Follow Wisconsin's Lead With Bitcoin ETF Investment: 'I've Been A Long Time Believer In Crypto,' Says Mayor Fulop

Author: Aniket Verma | July 26, 2024 01:42am

Jersey City mayor Steven Fulop announced allocating a portion of the city's pension fund to Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETF,) becoming just the second pension fund after Wisconsin to get exposure to the price moves of the apex cryptocurrency.

What Happened: The mayor informed Thursday that the pension fund is updating paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to invest in the investment vehicles that have been trading on US stock markets since early January. 

Fulop, however, didn't mention which ETF the funds will be allocated to, or the exact allocation percentage. He said that the allocation would be in line with the 2% allocation done by the Wisconsin Pension Fund in May.

Notable: the Mayor of Jersey City here announcing the pension is making an allocation to Bitcoin ETFs.. this would be the second pension after Wisconsin to report ownership. https://t.co/4J8qbprmj4

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 25, 2024

In a clear endorsement of cryptocurrencies, Fulop remarked, "I've been a long time believer (through ups/downs) in crypto but Broadly, beyond crypto I do believe blockchain is amongst the most important new technology innovations since the internet."

See Also: Peter Schiff Polls HODLers, Asks If They’ll Sell If Bitcoin Slips Below $15K – Here’s How They Responded

Why It Matters: The announcement by the Jersey City mayor comes two months after the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's $160 million investment in Bitcoin ETFs. 

The board bought shares worth $99 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) and approximately $64 million in Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (NYSE:GBTC).

Notably, since the purchase, IBIT shares have plunged more than 6%, while GBTC has popped 4.7%.

The ETFs were approved this January, allowing equity investors to gain exposure to the price movements of bitcoin. Since launch, the 11 ETFs have raked in more than $17.54 billion in net inflows, according to SoSo Value.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $66,945.99, up 4.15% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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• Bitcoin ETFs In Japan: Franklin Templeton Partners With SBI Holdings To Launch Digital Asset Management Company

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Posted In: GBTC IBIT