Jersey City Mayor Plans to Allocate Part of City's Pension Fund to Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs

The Mayor of Jersey City has expressed plans to allocate a part of the city's pension fund to Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is planning to allocate a portion of the city's pension fund to Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In an X post on July 25, the mayor said that the Jersey City pension fund (Employees Retirement System of Jersey City) is working on a submission to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow allocation to Bitcoin ETFs.

Although he did not specify a percentage, Fulop said the paperwork should be complete by the end of the summer. Notably, Jersey City is following in the footsteps of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), which filed a disclosure with the SEC in May.

The SWIB showed holdings in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) of over 2.4 million shares, and more than 1 million shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), for portfolios valued at about $100 million and $64 million, respectively.

Other pension funds and retirement funds have also made crypto investments. For example, pensions from Virginia's Fairfax County are invested in Bitcoin through the New Finance Income Fund from VanEck, while the Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund also has crypto investments.

Demand for these investments, especially through crypto ETFs, is increasing as the products gain traction. In January, the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs after repeated rejections that lasted more than a decade. Notably, several other issuers were denied as the Commission continuously cited problems with fraud and market manipulation as reasons for the rejections.

According to data from Farside Investors, spot BTC ETFs have now received total net inflows of $17.5 billion. Interestingly, the SEC also approved spot Ether (ETH) ETFs, giving the green light to 8 issuers, including BlackRock and VanEck. Farside data shows that the total net inflow has already hit $179 million.

The exchange-traded products represent a long-awaited opportunity for institutional involvement in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. For several years, organizations have been reluctant to invest in the space for several reasons. While the inherent volatility in the crypto sector is a significant problem, another concern is the inadequate protections ensured through registration with official authorities.

However, institutional involvement in cryptocurrencies will likely drive general interest and draw more attention, with the crypto community enjoying digital asset use for remittances, decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto gambling, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to current CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin is trading at $67,421 after gaining 3.89% in the last 24 hours and 1.% in 7 days. On the other hand, ETH data shows a $3,253 price, with a 3.69% 24-hour increase, and a loss above 7%.

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