Jersey
City
Mayor
Steven
Fulop
has
announced
plans
to
invest
a
portion
of
the
city’s
pension
fund
in
Bitcoin
exchange-traded
funds
(ETFs),
highlighting
a
significant
step
toward
integrating
crypto
into
municipal
financial
strategies.
In
a
social
media
post
on
July
25,
Fulop
shared
that
the
Jersey
City
pension
fund
is
updating
its
documentation
with
the
US
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
to
include
Bitcoin
ETFs.
Jersey
City
is
the
second
largest
city
in
the
state
of
New
Jersey.
The
move
follows
a
similar
decision
by
the
Wisconsin
Pension
Fund,
which
allocated
2%
of
its
$156
billion
in
assets
to
Bitcoin
ETFs
in
the
second
quarter. Experts
believe
other
states
will
soon
follow
in
its
footsteps
and
diversify
a
portion
of
their
portfolios
with
Bitcoin
ETFs.
According
to
Fulop:
“The
question
on
whether
Crypto/Bitcoin
is
here
to
stay
is
largely
over
and
crypto/Bitcoin
won.”
The
Bitcoin
ETFs
have
recorded
remarkable
performance
since
their
launch,
with
BlackRock’s
IBIT
recently
overtaking
Nasdaq’s
QQQ
in
terms
of
inflows
for
the
year.
Fulop,
who
has
been
serving
as
the
city’s
Mayor
since
2013,
highlighted
that
he
has
been
a
long-standing
proponent
of
crypto
and
blockchain
technology.
He
emphasized
the
immense
potential
of
these
innovations,
saying:
“I’ve
been
a
long-time
believer
(through
ups/downs)
in
crypto,
but
broadly,
beyond
crypto,
I
do
believe
blockchain
is
among
the
most
important
new
technology
innovations
since
the
internet.”
The
SEC
approved
the
listing
and
trading
of
spot
Bitcoin
ETFs
on
US
exchanges
earlier
this
year,
paving
the
way
for
public
pension
funds
to
consider
such
investments.
However,
Jersey
City
and
Wisconsin
remain
among
the
few
public
entities
exploring
this
avenue
despite
expectations
that
more
would
follow
in
the
third
quarter.
Additionally,
Fulop
did
not
mention
any
plans
to
invest
in
other
cryptocurrencies
or
related
assets
—
such
as
Ethereum
ETFs,
which
began
trading
earlier
this
week.
While
major
financial
institutions
like
Wells
Fargo
and
JPMorgan
Chase
have
shown
limited
engagement
with
Bitcoin
ETFs,
with
combined
investments
of
less
than
$1
million,
Fulop’s
decision
signals
a
growing
acceptance
and
recognition
of
the
potential
of
digital
assets.
As
the
city
progresses
with
the
SEC
paperwork,
the
implementation
of
Bitcoin
ETFs
in
the
pension
fund
is
expected
to
be
completed
by
the
end
of
the
summer.
Fulop
expressed
confidence
that
such
investments
would
become
more
common
in
the
future.
Based
on
CryptoSlate
data,
Bitcoin
reacted
positively
to
the
news
and
was
trading
at
$66,000
as
of
press
time
—
reversing
some
of
the
day’s
losses.
Bitcoin
Market
Data
At
the
time
of
press
11:03
pm
UTC
on
Jul.
25,
2024,
Bitcoin
is
ranked
#1
by
market
cap
and
the
price
is
up
0.23%
over
the
past
24
hours.
Bitcoin
has
a
market
capitalization
of
$1.3
trillion
with
a
24-hour
trading
volume
of
$38.62
billion.
Learn
more
about
Bitcoin
›
11:03
pm
UTC
on
Jul.
25,
2024
$65,821.10
0.23%
Crypto
Market
Summary
At
the
time
of
press
11:03
pm
UTC
on
Jul.
25,
2024,
the
total
crypto
market
is
valued
at
at
$2.35
trillion
with
a
24-hour
volume
of
$92.65
billion.
Bitcoin
dominance
is
currently
at
55.35%.
Learn
more
about
the
crypto
market
›
Go to Source
Author: Assad Jafri
