Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Hits Record Indirect Bitcoin Holdings, Driven by Strategy
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), disclosed that its indirect exposure to Bitcoin climbed to a historic 11,549 BTC in the first half of 2026, according to research firm K33. Valued at roughly $725 million, the exposure represents a 21.2 % increase from the previous six‑month period and a 60.5 % rise over the past year. The surge is largely the result of NBIM’s holdings in publicly traded firms that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, most notably the corporate treasury specialist Strategy, which alone accounts for about 86 % of the total exposure.
K33’s head of research, Vetle Lunde, highlighted that the fund now holds an estimated $125 worth of Bitcoin per Norwegian citizen, or 205,000 satoshis each, translating to roughly 0.03 % of NBIM’s total assets under management (AUM). Although the proportion of Bitcoin in the portfolio has slipped slightly from 0.04 % at the end of 2025, the absolute amount continues to grow. Lunde emphasized that the fund’s exposure is not the product of a targeted crypto strategy but rather a by‑product of its broad diversification across global equities, bonds and real estate.
The composition of the indirect holdings underscores the dominance of Strategy’s SMSTR+2.39 % stock, in which NBIM owns 1.17 % of the company’s shares, valued at $357.3 million. This stake translates to an estimated 9,914 BTC. Other contributors include Metaplanet (671 BTC, 5.8 % of the total), Marathon Digital Holdings (421 BTC, 3.6 %), Coinbase (183 BTC, 1.6 %), Block (120 BTC, 1 %) and Tesla (97 BTC, 0.8 %). Among these, NBIM’s largest percentage ownership in any single bitcoin‑holding firm is 1.56 % of Metaplanet’s outstanding shares.
In addition to Bitcoin, NBIM’s latest filing revealed a new position in Bitmine, an Ethereum‑focused treasury company chaired by analyst Tom Lee. The sovereign fund holds 6.15 million Bitmine shares, worth about $88.3 million, which corresponds to a 1.16 % stake in the firm. Bitmine’s treasury contains roughly 5.8 million ETH, giving NBIM an indirect exposure of around 67,340 ETH, valued at $126.3 million. This marks the first time the Norwegian fund has reported a material indirect holding of Ether.
The fund’s overall portfolio remains anchored in traditional assets, with total AUM reported at approximately $2.4 trillion. Its primary allocations continue to be in global equities, fixed income and real estate, while crypto‑related positions remain a tiny fraction of the whole. Nonetheless, the record level of indirect Bitcoin exposure illustrates the growing penetration of digital assets into mainstream institutional portfolios, even when those institutions do not hold the tokens directly.
The development is significant for both the AI and cryptocurrency sectors. As AI-driven analytics become more sophisticated, they enable large investors to assess and incorporate unconventional assets like crypto into diversified strategies, potentially accelerating mainstream adoption. Moreover, the increasing presence of sovereign wealth funds, even indirectly, lends credibility to the crypto market, encouraging further institutional participation and potentially prompting regulatory bodies to refine frameworks governing digital asset investments.
