BlackRock Exec Reveals Huge Sovereign Wealth Fund Interest In Bitcoin As Second-Largest European Bank Acquires IBIT ETF Shares

BNP Paribas, the second-largest bank in the European Union (EU), has hopped on the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) express. The French bank bought shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the first quarter of 2024, according to recent filings.

BNP Paribas Gets Exposure To Bitcoin Via BlackRock’s IBIT

BNP Paribas just took a slice of the spot Bitcoin ETF pie through BlackRock.

According to a May 1 Form 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), BNP Paribas acquired IBIT shares worth $41,684.10 in Q1 2024. The filing notes that the French banking giant purchased 1,030 shares at an average of $40.47 a share, for a total of — less than the cost of one Bitcoin at today’s prices.

Per the filing, BNP Paribas’ investment into IBIT is down just under 20% since it was acquired at the end of March.

“BNB Paribas filed a 13F-HR form disclosing ownership of 1,030 shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust valued at $41,684 as of March 31, 2024. The current value of the position is $33,362.”

While the investment is minuscule, given the close to $600 billion the bank has in Assets Under Management (AUM), the move marks one of the first verified incidents in which a prominent financial institution has bought shares of a spot BTC ETF, validating the thesis of mainstream embrace of the premier cryptocurrency.

The 13F filing is an essential regulatory disclosure demanded of entities, including foreign banks like BNP Paribas, that transact in the United States at any given time.

Proposals to introduce spot market BTC ETFs in the United States were approved by the SEC in January after a decade of the top Wall Street regulator stonewalling them. These products give investors direct exposure to Bitcoin without the hassle of buying and storing the underlying crypto themselves.

Besides BNP Paribas, there is a general prognosis that more mainstream banks and financial institutions will soon embrace the burgeoning asset class.

Investment From Sovereign Funds Coming Within Months

In a recent interview, Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets for BlackRock, predicted that financial institutions such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and endowments could begin to trade in the spot ETFs in the coming months.

“Many of these interested firms — whether we’re talking about pensions, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, other asset managers, family offices — are having ongoing diligence and research conversations, and we’re playing a role from an education perspective,” Mitchnick opined, adding BlackRock has seen “a re-initiation of the discussion around bitcoin.”

This shift signals a wider acceptance and recognition of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate investment asset class within the institutional space.