Fidelity, a major financial services company, says retirement funds have begun exploring investing in Bitcoin, especially after Bitcoin exchange-traded funds were approved earlier this year.
BREAKING: Wall Street giant Fidelity says pension funds are starting to explore #Bitcoin And encryption
Gradually then suddenly 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8vBz4Bf02t
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 3, 2024
Fidelity has been bullish on Bitcoin for years, launching its digital assets arm in 2018 and bringing a successful Bitcoin ETF to the market earlier this year. The company's ETFs have attracted significant capital compared to competitors.
Now, Fidelity's vice president of digital assets, Manuel Nordeste, says the company is approaching major pension funds and other institutional investors about an allocation to Bitcoin.
Speaking at a recent event, Nordesty said: “Now, we're starting to have conversations with the biggest types of institutional investors in real money, and we're getting some of those clients, as well as corporates and so on.”
His comments come after BlackRock also said yesterday that it had held educational talks with pension funds regarding bitcoin ETFs. Recent 13F filings show that major pension advisors have already purchased Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
This growing evidence suggests that serious consideration is underway about allowing pension investments in Bitcoin instruments such as ETFs.
With more than $4 trillion in capital, US pension funds that commit even small allocations to their portfolios can generate significant inflows.
While pensions remain cautious compared to family offices and hedge funds, which have already bought exposure to bitcoin, their conservative mandates and focus on risk management have kept most pensions on the sidelines so far.
If pensions follow the example of early adopters, it will represent a seismic shift in mainstream acceptance.
So far, Bitcoin ETFs have seen huge demand since their launch this year. Although this week saw record outflows, the long-term trajectory still looks very favourable.