Key Points
- Norway’s central bank has over $500 million in indirect Bitcoin exposure through investments in crypto-related companies.
- The bank’s indirect Bitcoin exposure has nearly tripled in the past year due to increased allocations to these firms.
Norway’s central bank has substantial indirect exposure to Bitcoin, amounting to over $500 million. This is primarily through its investments in MicroStrategy and other companies focused on cryptocurrency.
This data was revealed by K33 Research, which indicated that the bank’s indirect exposure to Bitcoin has nearly tripled over the past year. This is due to the bank allocating more funds to cryptocurrency-related firms.
Investment Details
Vetle Lunde, the head of research at K33, shared that the Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund owns 0.72% of MicroStrategy’s total shares. As of December 2024, these shares were valued at roughly $514 million, which equates to an indirect Bitcoin exposure of around 3,214 Bitcoin.
The central bank of Norway has been investing in MicroStrategy since 2009. However, their investment trend picked up pace last year as MicroStrategy established itself as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. Currently, MicroStrategy is the largest cryptocurrency-linked investment of the sovereign fund, which is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management.
Other Investments
Apart from MicroStrategy, Norges Bank Investment Management also has stakes in other companies with Bitcoin exposure. These include Tesla, Bitcoin mining firms Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and Tokyo-based Metaplanet.
Collectively, these investments account for over $61 million in indirect Bitcoin exposure. According to Lunde, the investment strategy of Norges Bank Investment Management probably follows a rule-based sector weighting approach rather than a direct Bitcoin acquisition plan.
Lunde also highlighted the unusual nature of some of the bank’s investment choices. This suggests that Bitcoin is increasingly being included in institutional portfolios worldwide.
The interest of Norway in companies with substantial Bitcoin holdings came into the spotlight last year. In August, it was revealed that the central banks of Norway and Switzerland made considerable investments in MicroStrategy shares. This coincided with the increase in Bitcoin purchases by the firm based in Tysons Corner.
