South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund by assets, made a notable investment in the second quarter of this year by purchasing $33.7 million worth of MicroStrategy shares. According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the NPS acquired 24,500 shares of MicroStrategy, Inc.
This is one of the actions that help the NPS get more exposure to Bitcoin without buying the cryptocurrency directly. Last year, it invested in the cryptocurrency sector by purchasing 282,673 shares of Coinbase for $19.9 million. At the end of June, the NPS owned 229,807 Coinbase shares which were equivalent to about $51 million, down from 253,763 at the end of March.
MicroStrategy is known to be the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin with roughly 226,500 BTC, which is valued at roughly $13.2 billion. Such a large Bitcoin balance makes MicroStrategy a significant participant in the Bitcoin market and often serves as an indicator of the performance of Bitcoin in traditional investment vehicles.
MSTX ETF Launches, Offering 2x Return on MicroStrategy
This week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission green-lit a new 2x leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) dedicated to MicroStrategy called MSTX. This ETF seeks to deliver one and a half times the return of MicroStrategy’s daily stock price change, allowing investors to get exposed to Bitcoin through a regulated product.
MicroStrategy, for instance, has done remarkably well this year, with an increase of 92% in the company’s stock. On the other hand, the stock price of Coinbase has increased by 25% in the same period. Following the investment in Coinbase, another example of an investment made by the NPS is in MicroStrategy, which shows that institutional investors are increasingly turning their attention toward crypto-related investments.
This recent move by the NPS shows a great plan to improve their investment diversification by targeting growth assets associated with the cryptocurrency market. Since MicroStrategy owns a large amount of Bitcoin, it has become popular among investors who are interested in investing in Bitcoin. The introduction of the new MSTX ETF is another form of investment that increases the chances of investors multiplying their investments based on the performance of Bitcoin.