Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global disclosed a 6,151,062-share position in BitMine Immersion Technologies valued at $81,870,635, according to a Norges Bank holdings filing for the quarter ended June 30.
The stake gives the sovereign wealth fund indirect exposure to Ethereum through BMNR stock. It is an equity holding in a listed company, not a direct purchase of ETH by the fund.
Position appeared in the June 30 filing
BitMine did not appear in Norges Bank’s Dec. 31 holdings report, but it was listed in the June 30 report. The filings do not disclose when the fund bought the shares or how much it paid for them.
Exposure comes through an ETH treasury company
BitMine describes itself as an Ethereum treasury and blockchain-infrastructure company. In an Aug. 10 company announcement furnished as an SEC exhibit, BitMine said it held 5,805,238 ETH and that its crypto, cash, marketable securities and other investments totaled $11.6 billion as of Aug. 9.
That means the Norwegian fund’s exposure comes through BitMine shares, whose value reflects the company’s ETH holdings as well as its financing and operations.
BitMine also said it joined the Russell 1000 index on June 26. Neither BitMine’s statement nor Norges Bank’s disclosure says whether the index inclusion drove the fund’s position.
Fund size and staking data
Norges Bank Investment Management said the Government Pension Fund Global was worth 22.683 trillion kroner at June 30, with 72.1% invested in equities. The manager published its total holdings on Aug. 12 alongside its half-year results.
BitMine’s announcement also said 5,067,309 of its ETH had been staked as of Aug. 9. The Defiant previously reported on the company’s ETH accumulation toward its stated target of holding 5% of the token’s supply.