South Korea’s Largest Investor Buys 24,500 Shares from Leading Bitcoin Holder

The world of cryptocurrency continues to witness growing interest from across the globe, with adoption by various major players. The latest significant move highlighting this trend is the $33.7 million investment by South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund, in MicroStrategy, the largest public holder of Bitcoin.

The South Korean public pension service purchased 24,500 shares of MicroStrategy. According to an SEC filing, the NPS made the purchase in the second quarter of 2024, investing $33.7 million in the company at an average price of $1,377 per share. This investment suggests that South Korea’s public pension fund is gaining direct or indirect exposure to Bitcoin through MicroStrategy.

In a seperate development, Norges Bank Investment Management, a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, has revealed that it allocated $1.7 trillion to MicroStrategy. The sovereign wealth fund, popularly referred to as Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, reported on June 30 that it invested $217 million in MicroStrategy.

Since 2008, Norway’s investment manager has been investing in MicroStrategy, giving it indirect exposure to Bitcoin, as MicroStrategy owns 226,500 bitcoins, now worth close to $14 billion—an estimate that is nearly half of its $26.3 billion market cap. The investment in MicroStrategy comes from the proceeds of Norway’s oil and gas profits.

The Government Pension Fund Global was created shortly after the country discovered oil in the North Sea. It was established to serve as a safeguard against economic challenges. For Norway, oil proceeds are important, but the fear that they could end at any time led the country to create this fund management strategy.