Revealed recently was Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investments, emerging as the 7th largest shareholder in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, with a substantial $461 million contribution in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Given that it represents one of the Emirates within the UAE, this disclosure has reinforced the initial speculation surrounding Abu Dhabi potentially holding up to $40 billion in Bitcoin.
In response to this development, Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart remarked,
“The speculations were evidently grounded in truth!”
A noteworthy aspect is that the UAE has abstained from officially divulging or confirming its BTC reserves. As per Binance founder CZ, the reported $461 million BTC reserve could merely scratch the surface of Abu Dhabi’s extensive crypto holdings. He expressed,
“This disclosure pertains to just one of the Sovereign Wealth Funds (Mubadala) in Abu Dhabi. There are several other SWFs in the region.”
Will the United States Emulate the UAE’s Approach?
As outlined by David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, Abu Dhabi potentially possesses more substantial holdings than publicly acknowledged, with other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members swiftly following suit. Bailey asserted,
“Abu Dhabi has actually delved much deeper than what has been presented today. A couple of other GCC members are also making strategic moves. I had hoped this information would be unveiled at BitcoinMENA, but it seems they were not prepared.”
This revelation has spurred conversations in the United States about potentially establishing a National BTC Reserve or integrating Bitcoin into President Trump’s recently announced sovereign wealth fund (SWF).
Moreover, Bailey hypothesized that President Trump’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, could emulate Abu Dhabi’s footsteps by integrating BTC into the United States’ SWF.
A resonant call was also made by the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a cryptocurrency advocacy body. An excerpt from their report highlighted,
“The U.S could leverage the approximately 200,000 BTC currently under U.S. federal custody from law enforcement seizures to utilize these assets as initial investment for the SWF without necessitating additional taxpayer funding.”
Nevertheless, it’s crucial to underline that such a maneuver is considerably undervalued by the market as per Polymarket’s latest forecasts. At present, the prediction platform is rating the likelihood at a modest 14% by the summer of 2025.
Despite the bullish revelations and the apparent actions at the ‘state’ level concerning Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency has remained relatively subdued in recent times. It has persistently hovered below the $100k mark for the past ten days, with its current value pinned at $97k, reflecting a 12% decline from its all-time high at this moment.