Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, saw a remarkable 153% increase in its indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) in 2024, according to K33 Research. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the entity managing the fund, now holds $356.7 million in indirect Bitcoin exposure.
As of December 2024, the fund indirectly held 3,821 BTC, marking a significant rise from 1,507 BTC in 2023, and an even larger jump from just 796 BTC in 2020. This surge reflects the growing presence of Bitcoin in NBIM’s portfolio over the past few years.
In addition to Bitcoin, NBIM has substantial investments in various crypto-related public companies. By the end of 2024, the fund held a 0.72% stake in MicroStrategy (MSTR) valued at $500 million, 1.1% of Tesla (TSLA), and shares in Coinbase (COIN), Metaplanet (3350), and MARA Holdings (MARA).
NBIM, which manages revenues from Norway’s oil and gas resources, also known as the Government Pension Fund Global, reported a record annual profit of $222.4 billion, largely driven by the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
K33 analyst Vetle Lunde suggests that NBIM’s growing Bitcoin exposure is largely a result of the rising value of crypto proxies in its sector-weighted portfolios, with increasing values of crypto-related assets causing their weightings within the portfolio to grow.
