South Korea’s Pension Fund Invests $34M in MicroStrategy Shares

A recent filing has revealed that South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) purchased MicroStrategy (MSTR) shares worth nearly $34 million in the second quarter of this year. 

Since MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin (BTC), the latest disclosure by the third-largest pension fund in the world based on assets can be interpreted as an indirect investment in the cryptocurrency. 

Korea’s NPS Buys MicroStrategy Shares 

According to the filing, the pension fund disclosed that it bought 24,500 shares at an average price of $1,377.48 in the second quarter before MicroStrategy announced a 10-for-1 stock split in the beginning of this month. 

The purchase brings the total number of shares to 245,000, valued at $32.32 million, based on MicroStrategy’s last close of $131.93.

Apart from MicroStrategy’s shares, the filing showed that NPS also holds 229,807 shares of Coinbase worth over $45 million. The fund started buying shares in the crypto exchange in 2023, snapping up 282,673 shares, worth $19.9 million at the time at an average price of $70.5.

MicroStrategy’s stock has increased by 92% this year, while Coinbase’s stock is up 25% year to date.

The Largest Corporate Bitcoin Holder

According to BitcoinTreasuries, MicroStrategy is the largest corporate bitcoin holder, owning 226,500 BTC worth approximately $13.2 billion. The software development firm recently marked its fourth year of regularly acquiring the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC). 

Given its substantial BTC holdings, the company has often been used as a proxy to Bitcoin exposure in the traditional market. Earlier this week, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first leveraged exchange-traded fund targeting MicroStrategy.

Moreover, several firms globally have followed MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy leading to increased institutional interest in the asset. 

Similar to the NPS move, these investment companies are adopting the leading digital asset through the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), an investment vehicle that enables investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements. Recently, a CoinTab report revealed that the State of Michigan Pension owns about $6.6M in Bitcoin.