Wisconsin Investment Board Sells $355.6M in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), which manages the state’s retirement funds, has sold off its entire holding of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) during the first quarter of 2024. According to filings, SWIB liquidated all 6,060,351 IBIT shares it held, which were worth around $355.6 million at current prices. This move comes just a quarter after SWIB reported additional purchases of IBIT shares in the fourth quarter of 2023, during which it reallocated all 1 million shares held in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to IBIT.

SWIB was one of the first state investment funds to provide Bitcoin exposure to US retirees when it initially bought $164 million worth of Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, the same quarter the Bitcoin products launched. The more than 6 million IBIT shares represented around 0.2% of SWIB’s entire portfolio, which was worth over $166 billion at the end of 2024.

This mass sell-off by SWIB contrasts with the actions of other major investors. For instance, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala increased its holdings of IBIT by purchasing an additional 491,439 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total IBIT shares to 8,726,972 as of March 31, worth around $512 million at current prices.

Despite the sell-off by SWIB, IBIT has continued to attract significant investment. IBIT’s net inflows surpassed the $45 billion mark on May 14 after recording a net inflow of $232.9 million. This impressive 20-day streak of net inflows came to an end on May 13 when it registered a “0” inflow for the day. The BlackRock-issued Bitcoin product has not seen an outflow since April 9, more than five weeks ago.

IBIT’s performance has been notable compared to other Bitcoin ETFs. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARK) trail IBIT in all-time net inflows at $11.6 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively. This indicates that despite SWIB’s decision to sell off its holdings, IBIT remains a popular choice among investors seeking exposure to Bitcoin.