Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Sees Rising Bitcoin Exposure

The Norway sovereign wealth fund’s indirect Bitcoin exposure has grown 153% year-over-year to 3,821 BTC ($400 million) as of Dec. 31, 2024, according to K33 Head of Research Vetle Lunde. This increase is attributed to substantial investments in companies such as MicroStrategy, Riot, MARA, Coinbase, Canaan, and Metaplanet.

Norway’s central bank oversees the sovereign wealth fund, known as the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which has over $1.5 trillion in assets. Its management is conducted by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), a subsidiary of the central bank, under the direction of the Ministry of Finance. The GPFG primarily invests in global equities, bonds, and real estate.

Lunde’s analysis of the fund’s performance in Bitcoin holdings calculated the percentage of Bitcoin-holding firms’ shares owned by NBIM, multiplied by their respective Bitcoin treasuries. He emphasized that this exposure arises from rule-based sector weighting rather than a strategic focus on Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy Holdings Lead the Way

MicroStrategy tops the holdings list, with NBIM owning 0.72% of the firm, valued at $514 million as of Dec. 31, 2024, translating into an indirect exposure of 3,214.08 BTC. Although NBIM’s percentage of holdings decreased from 0.89% as of June 30, 2024, its share count rose from approximately 1.12 million to 1.58 million.

Lunde had anticipated a more significant drop in holdings due to MicroStrategy’s “21/21 plan,” which aims to raise $42 billion for further Bitcoin acquisitions, thereby diluting existing shares. Notably, NBIM has invested in MicroStrategy since 2009, with its value increasing more than sevenfold in the past year.

In addition to MicroStrategy, NBIM’s holdings also include shares in other companies which contribute to its indirect Bitcoin exposure: 0.71% of MARA, 1.1% of Tesla, 0.85% of Coinbase, and 0.44% of Riot Platforms, representing 315.2 BTC, 106.9 BTC, 80.6 BTC, and 76.7 BTC, respectively.

Lunde remarked on the significance of NBIM’s exposure to Riot and Metaplanet, indicating the evolving corporate strategies regarding Bitcoin treasury management led by figures like MicroStrategy’s co-founder Michael Saylor and MARA CEO Fred Thiel.

As a result, by the end of 2024, the indirect Bitcoin exposure for Norwegian investors stood at 68,837 sats ($64), with NBIM’s exposure increasing from $23 million in 2020 to $356 million in 2024.