- Texas buys $5M in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, eyes self-custody for future Bitcoin reserve.
- State plans $10M Bitcoin exposure; second purchase pending once the custody system is ready.
- Institutional interest grows as states, universities, and firms invest heavily in Bitcoin.
Texas has taken a major step toward building a state-backed Bitcoin position by purchasing $5 million worth of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF. Another $5 million will be bought and held in the state’s custody. The Nov. 20 transaction was revealed this week by Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council.
Texas has allocated a total of $10 million to Bitcoin exposure. Half of that amount has been deployed, and the funds remaining will be invested once the state’s custody framework is in place. Bratcher confirmed that Texas will eventually self-custody its Bitcoin. He emphasized that the ETF purchase is a temporary solution.
Texas’ Bitcoin Buy Shows Rising Government Support
The state’s approach to Bitcoin now has strong reactions from the cryptocurrency community. However, Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, noted the change in government attitude.
“In five years, we went from ‘governments will ban Bitcoin’ to ‘governments are only buying a small amount of Bitcoin,'” Rochard said. He believes this move represents a growing trend toward “hyperbitcoinization,” which is a shift in which governments embrace Bitcoin as opposed to rejecting it.
Texas decided to purchase Bitcoin after Governor Gregg Abbott signed a law in June that let the state keep Bitcoin as part of its financial assets. However, the legislation only permits assets with a market cap of over $500 billion to be included in the state’s reserve.
Also Read: BlackRock Files Staked Ethereum ETF, Hinting at Explosive Yield Potential
While Bitcoin easily meets this threshold, BlackRock’s ETF is not qualified. This is suggestive that this current purchase isn’t a part of the official Bitcoin reserve but rather a temporary measure.
Bitcoin Investments Surge as Harvard, ADIC, and Wisconsin Invest
Other states and institutions have also taken interest in Bitcoin. Wisconsin’s investment board purchased almost $100 million worth of IBIT shares in May 2024.
Harvard University’s endowment fund has also invested $443 million in IBIT, making it the 16th-largest holder of the fund. Harvard’s investment is among the largest institutional endorsements of the bitcoin cryptocurrency and a sign of the increase in acceptance of digital assets in the financial world.
Harvard’s latest 13F filing reveals it raised its stake from 1.9 million shares in June while also boosting its gold ETF holdings by 99% to 661,391 shares valued at $235 million.
Additionally, Al Warda Investments, under the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), has boosted the exposure to Bitcoin. This firm tripled the holding position in IBIT in the third quarter of 2024 with a total holding, which equated to 8 million shares, worth $517.6 million.
As Texas advances with plans to implement Bitcoin, the state is now one of a growing number of institutions realizing that Bitcoin is a valuable asset. This trend indicates an increasing role for Bitcoin in the financial system.
Also Read: Bitcoin Price Crash Not Over Yet, Says CryptoQuant
