A new report in Fortune has calculated that every Norwegian citizen owns about $27 worth of bitcoin due to the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
The article, available here, says that the sovereign wealth fund, which is valued at $1.7tn, has grown its indirect state in bitcoin by 62% in the first six months of the year. This has been achieved, says Fortune writer Ryan Hogg, by it increasing its holdings in crypto exchanges like Coinbase, MarathonStrategy, Block Inc, and Marathon Digital.
The report indicates that the fund grew by 8.6% over the same period, with equity investments rising by 12%.
Hogg writes: “In total, Norway’s investment bank now owns 2,446 [bitcoins], worth around $142.9m. On a per capita basis, Lunde says this is the equivalent of $27 for each of Norway’s 5.5 million residents.”
There is a great reference within the piece to a breakdown of the numbers done on The Bird Space by Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research. Lunde writes that these developments illustrate how bitcoin is maturing as an asset.
See also: German funds now holding over €4,300bn in assets
He wrote: “The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (NBIM) indirectly owns 2,446 [bitcoins], an increase of 938 [bitcoins] from 31 December, 2023. The growth likely originates from pre-determined algo-based sector weighting and risk diversification. It’s unlikely to stem from an intentional choice to amass exposure—if increased [Bitcoins] exposure was the target, we’d see more evidence of direct exposure initiatives (and significantly larger exposure).”
This growth, writes Lunde, comes from increased MicroStrategy exposure, from 0.67% to 0.89%; MicroStrategy increasing its [bitcoins] exposure by 37,181 [bitcoins] in H1, 2024; exposure in Marathon Digital, from 0% to 0.82%; increased exposure in Coinbase, from 0.49% to 0.83%; and increased exposure in Block Inc, from 1.09% to 1.28%.
The sovereign wealth fund, under Norges Bank Investment Management, said during the recent release of its half-year report that the fund’s value had increased by 1,980bn kroner to 17,745bn kroner in the first half of 2024.
It said that equities made up 72% of the value of the fund at the end of the period, fixed income 26.1%, unlisted real estate 1.7%, and unlisted renewable energy infrastructure 0.1%.
The change in the fund’s market value comprised the return of 1,478bn kroner, transfers from the government of 188bn kroner, and 315bn kroner from a weaker krone.
