Sovereign funds start to invest in Bitcoin, but some governments could outlaw crypto

While institutions have steadily started to look into adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets, there has been speculation that sovereign funds could be following the same path.

State-owned money flowing into crypto

State-owned investment funds could be following in the footsteps of MicroStrategy and Tesla, who have incorporated Bitcoin as part of their treasury funds. In a podcast hosted by Real Vision’s Raoul Pal, Robert Gutmann, the CEO of the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), revealed that the firm has been in discussions with sovereign wealth funds about potentially investing in Bitcoin.

The Real Vision founder also confirmed Gutmann’s statement and added that Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, with $306 billion in assets under management, has been purchasing virgin Bitcoin from miners for a while. 

Pal, famous for his bullish stance on Bitcoin, said that Bitcoin could hit the $1 million target in five or six years as there is an “enormous wall of money coming” into the market. He explained:

It’s an enormous wall of money, just the pipes aren’t there to allow people to do it yet, and that’s coming. But it’s on everyone’s radar screen, and there are a lot of smart people working on it.

A good chance the US will outlaw Bitcoin

While some countries such as Singapore have continued to embrace cryptocurrencies with their regulations, debates in India about banning digital assets have been a growing concern worldwide. 

Although regulators in the United States have not given any indication of a ban on cryptocurrencies, Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, believes Bitcoin could be banned in the country if it becomes too successful.

Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates with $150 billion in AUM, suggested that given the history of money, governments “don’t want other monies to be operating or competing, because things can get out of control.”

Debates about a blanket ban on Bitcoin among policymakers in India could be a growing trend for governments, Dalio stated. He further pointed out that the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 made it illegal for investors to own gold because, at that time, the government did not want gold to compete with money and credit as a store of wealth — hence he believes the same could happen with Bitcoin.

Dalio’s understanding of government surveillance points to the fact that authorities could track the people involved in Bitcoin transactions. He doubts that the digital asset’s privacy could be protected.

However, the billionaire himself has been warming up to Bitcoin and even said that the cryptocurrency has proven itself in the past 10 years. Dalio pointed out that the flagship cryptocurrency has not been hacked and that Bitcoin is like digital cash.

US government auctions off Bitcoin during crypto spring fever

While Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund continues to accumulate Bitcoin for its treasury, the US government’s General Service Administration (GSA) is auctioning off 6.79 Bitcoin, valued at over $383,000, at the time of the announcement. 

The federal government started to auction Bitcoin in 2014, with the previous auction held on March 17 with 31 bidders. The winning bid was at $53,104 for 0.7501 BTC, which roughly translates to $70,792 for one Bitcoin — giving the government a 20% premium over the market price of around $59,000.

Thomas Meiron, the regional commissioner for GSA, noted that the cryptocurrency market became one of the hottest auctions in 2021, and the administration expects “this auction will generate even more excitement among cryptocurrency investors.”