Standard Chartered says NBIM boosted its Bitcoin holdings by 83% in Q2 2025

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has significantly increased its indirect exposure to Bitcoin by 83% in the second quarter of 2025.

This move underscores a growing trend among institutional investors to gain cryptocurrency exposure through equity holdings in companies with substantial Bitcoin reserves. According to an analysis by Standard Chartered, NBIM now has 11400 BTC after its recent addition of 5,200 BTC to its portfolio.

NBIM added 200 BTC equivalent holdings in Metaplanet

Typically, the NBIM holds its Bitcoin through shares of Strategy, formerly Microstrategy. However, this time, per Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, the Norwegian platform boosted its holdings in both Strategy and Metaplanet. Even so, he noted the holdings are still concentrated in Strategy, with only about 200 BTC-equivalent allocated to Metaplanet.

He further commented, “The point here is that Norges is using MSTR as a way to gain exposure to the underlying. The increase in one quarter (83%) has to be a proactive position.”

At current prices, Strategy’s 628,946 BTC stake is worth close to $74 billion, keeping it atop the list of public corporate holders. Metaplanet ranks seventh with 18,113 BTC, worth just over $2 billion.

An earlier K33 report showed that NBIM’s BTC indirect exposure had expanded by more than 192% in the past year through H1 2025. According to K33 researcher Velte Lunde, the surge was largely fueled by treasury firms ramping up their Bitcoin holdings, alongside companies such as Strategy pushing for accumulation.  

He also attributed part of the fund’s exposure to BTC’s 11.9% USD-denominated gain this year. Meanwhile, several other sovereign and government funds have indirectly been boosting their Bitcoin exposure, primarily through Strategy. Kendrick had even forecast in February that more sovereign wealth funds would add exposure. Lunde also recently made similar claims, anticipating more BTC investments as companies jump on treasury allocations.

Sovereign wealth funds are typically seen as long-term and conservative, making this exposure jump stand out.

Kendrick raised his Bitcoin and Ethereum projections 

Standard Chartered’s Kendrick is a long-time Bitcoin optimist who recently adjusted his short-term forecast for the cryptocurrency. Last month, he raised his Bitcoin price forecast to $135,000 by late September, stuck with his $200,000 year-end prediction, and predicted the token could hit $500,000 by 2028.

Aside from Bitcoin, he also estimated that Ethereum could hit $7,500 by the end of the year and possibly $25,000 by 2028. Standard Chartered explained that treasury entities and ETFs have amassed 3.8% of all circulating Ethereum since June, almost twice as fast as Bitcoin accumulation, warranting their forecast change. 

Kendrick further projected BNB climbing as high as $2,775 by 2028, AVAX hitting $250 by 2029, and XRP appreciating to $12.50 by 2028, adding that stablecoin adoption will accelerate enough to push the market close to $2 trillion by year-end 2028.

According to the bank, the GENIUS Act enactment offers more clarity on the assets’ framework and thus will facilitate mainstream adoption. Ideally, growing stablecoin dominance would boost Ethereum gains since stablecoins generate about 40% of blockchain fees, and over half of them are issued on the Ethereum network.

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