Jersey City Mayor Seeks Bitcoin ETF Exposure for Pension Plans

2 months ago 16
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The launch of the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States has been a highly successful event with assets under management close to $55 billion within six months of launch.

During the inaugural day of the Bitcoin Conference 2024, Steven Fulop, the Mayor of Jersey City disclosed plans to put a portion of the city’s pension funds into the Bitcoin exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) after their strong success in the last six months.

As per the announcement from Fulop, Jersey City will be updating its documentation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to integrate Bitcoin ETFs in pension investments. In the second quarter of this year, the Wisconsin Pension Fund made a similar decision allocating 2% of its $156 billion in assets to the spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Fulop has served as the mayor of Jersey City since 2013 and has been vocal about his long-standing belief in crypto as well as blockchain technology. “The question on whether Crypto/Bitcoin is here to stay is largely over and crypto/Bitcoin won,” he said. The Jersey City Mayor further highlighted the potential of blockchain technology by describing it as “among the most important new technology innovations since the internet”.

Not my normal subject matter in a post but I’ll share anyway – the question on whether Crypto/Bitcoin is here to stay is largely over + crypto/Bitcoin won. The #JerseyCity pension fund is in process of updating paperwork to the SEC to allocate % of the fund to Bitcoin ETFs… https://t.co/5iNEqRqHGM

— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) July 25, 2024

Bitcoin ETFs Inflows Remain Strong

The launch of the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States has been a highly successful event with assets under management close to $55 billion within six months of launch. BlackRock’s IBIT has been the major contributor to this success with nearly $20 billion in inflows so far. Furthermore, IBIT is just below Nasdaq’s QQQ in terms of total inflows so far in 2024 occupying the fourth position among other ETFs. With nearly $10 billion in inflows, Fidelity’s FBTC also occupies a spot among the top ten.

HISTORIC: $VOO has broken the all-time annual inflow record for an ETF w/ $50.9b and IT'S STILL JULY. Unreal. Now of course, it could see outflows and un-break record but this Vanguard we talking about = 99% chance it hoovers up more cash Pac-Man style. Legit shot at $100b IMO. pic.twitter.com/yQg5RxkNc2

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 24, 2024

Moreover, top banking giants like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have also shown some engagement with the spot Bitcoin ETFs. The inclusion of cryptocurrencies in public funds signals a broader trend of institutional acceptance. As more cities and states explore diversifying their portfolios with digital assets, this could potentially drive wider adoption of cryptocurrencies in traditional finance.

Funds & ETFs, Market News, News

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