In recent years, Bitcoin has made a remarkable entry into the strategic reserves of certain countries and other sovereign wealth funds. This strategy has been implemented by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, which has just tripled its exposure to BTC in the last quarter.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds confirm their interest in Bitcoin
Over the course of this year, Bitcoin has clearly confirmed its position as a leading asset in traditional finance. It now has an international dimension and is at the center of government accumulation as part of national reserves.
This strategy was implemented by the Mubadala Investment Company through exposure to the IBIT Bitcoin spot ETF from global asset management leader BlackRock, which began in the first quarter of 2024 and has been steadily increased since then.
However, it is more specifically its independently managed subsidiary, Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), that is of interest to us at present. This entity specializes in private assets such as buyouts, infrastructure, and real estate, and has also opted for Bitcoin as part of a long-term diversification strategy.
The entity significantly increased its exposure to BTC during the third quarter of this year, tripling its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF from 2.4 million shares to more than 8 million as of September 30, for a total estimated value of $518 million.
Bitcoin “a store of value similar to gold”
It is difficult not to notice the complicated timing of this investment, made when BTC was trading above $100,000, just before the cryptocurrency market was hit hard by the crash on November 11, with Bitcoin now trading at around $90,000.
Despite everything, the leaders of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) remain confident. They view this investment in Bitcoin as a long-term one, in the context of a changing world that could quickly make it a kind of digital equivalent to gold.
We view Bitcoin as a store of value similar to gold, and as the world moves toward a more digital future, we see it playing an increasingly important role alongside gold. Both assets help diversify our portfolio, and we plan to hold them as part of our short- and long-term strategy.
ADIC spokesperson
The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund manages approximately $330 billion in assets. This amount makes it one of the largest investment structures of its kind in the world, with an estimated stake in the BlackRock fund of 8.7 million IBIT shares, or approximately $567 million, unchanged over the last quarter.
