Norwegian oil fund owns almost 600 bitcoins

Their wealth in crypto is due to their investment in MicroStrategy

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund contains over $1 trillion in assets. Part of this includes 1.4% of all global stocks and shares and is widely believed to be the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

A report released on September 19 by cryptocurrency research company Arcane Research entitled, The Norwegian Oil Fund Now Owns Almost 600 Bitcoins, illustrates how the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (otherwise known as the Norwegian Oil Fund) managed to collect all the cryptocurrency.

The report shows that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund holds 577.6 BTC because of its investment in MicroStrategy, a business intelligence firm. As of writing, this puts the company’s portfolio in bitcoin at approximately $6.3 million. The Fund has a 1.51% stake in the company.

The founder of MicoStrategy, Michael Saylor, recently revealed on Twitter that the company is in possession of over 38,250 BTC.

Two other notable shareholders of MicroStrategy include major investment advisory companies BlackRock Fund Advisors and the Vanguard Group, which have a share of 15.24% (5829.30 BTC) and an 11.72% stake, respectively.

In the past few days, MicroStrategy has been making headlines for several notable decisions, particularly for making Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset and for its unconventional approach to buying the cryptocurrency. The company is one of the most recent mainstream giants to make its way into the cryptocurrency industry. In an announcement last August 11, MicroStrategy revealed that it bought 21,454 BTC for $250 million.

“This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash,” Saylor explained in the press release.

“Since its inception over a decade ago, Bitcoin has emerged as a significant addition to the global financial system, with characteristics that are useful to both individuals and institutions. MicroStrategy has recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate investment asset that can be superior to cash and accordingly has made Bitcoin the principal holding in its treasury reserve strategy.”

Saylor also revealed their approach to trading bitcoin through Twitter.

“To acquire 16,796 BTC (disclosed  9/14/20), we traded continuously 74 hours, executing 88,617 trades ~0.19 BTC every 3 seconds. ~$39,414 in BTC per minute, but at all times we were ready to purchase $30-50 million in a few seconds if we got lucky with a 1-2% downward spike,” he said.