The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) has exited its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), pulling back from spot Bitcoin ETFs just one quarter after becoming one of the first state-run pension funds to invest in them.
A May 15 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that SWIB no longer holds any IBIT shares, marking a complete liquidation of the 6,060,351 shares it disclosed in its previous quarterly report. Based on current market prices, the offloaded stake was worth approximately $355.6 million.
Surprising that State of Wisconsin Investment Board sold their Bitcoin ETF shares for a couple of reasons.
One being that they still have a $50m position in MSTR (at today’s price). https://t.co/vW72ApSAHU pic.twitter.com/EazTEjcuZU
— Julian Fahrer (@Julian__Fahrer) May 15, 2025
SWIB’s move comes after it made headlines in early 2024 for allocating around $164 million to Bitcoin ETFs — a bold bet representing roughly 0.2% of its $166 billion portfolio. The mass sell-off came after SWIB reported additional purchases of IBIT shares in Q4 while reallocating all 1 million shares held in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to IBIT.
The decision to pull out signals a shift in strategy or sentiment toward the crypto market, though SWIB has not publicly commented on the rationale behind the divestment.
In contrast, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, doubles down on Bitcoin exposure. The fund purchased an additional 491,439 shares of IBIT during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 8,726,972 shares — valued at around $512 million.
BlackRock’s IBIT remains the frontrunner among spot Bitcoin ETFs, recently surpassing $45 billion in total net inflows, according to Farside Investors. Although it saw a pause in daily inflows on May 13, breaking a 20-day streak, the fund hasn’t recorded a single day of outflows since April 9.
Trailing IBIT in total inflows are the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) at $11.6 billion and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARK) with $2.7 billion, further cementing IBIT’s dominance in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s IBIT has become the largest Bitcoin ETF globally, surpassing the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
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