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In May 2024, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) disclosed that it held shares in two spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). It did not buy bitcoin and store it in a wallet. It bought fund shares, which give the holder price exposure to bitcoin without owning any bitcoin directly. That distinction is the whole story, and it is why the “first state to buy bitcoin” headline needs context.
What the filing showed
SWIB manages investments for Wisconsin’s public pension systems and other state accounts. Institutional investment managers with large US equity and ETF holdings must file a quarterly Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SWIB’s 13F for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, was filed on May 14, 2024, and its information table reported two bitcoin ETF positions:
| Fund | Shares reported | Value at March 31, 2024 | Implied value per share (derived) |
|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) | 2,450,400 | $99,167,688 | about $40.47 |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) | 1,013,000 | $63,687,310 | about $62.87 |
| Combined | not applicable | about $162.9 million | not applicable |
The dollar values are the SEC table’s quarter-end figures. The per-share amounts are simple division of those values by the share counts, included only to show the scale of each position. Wisconsin Public Radio later summarized the two holdings as “more than $160 million” in shares, which matches the combined total.
Why the headline’s “first state” label needs context
The “first state” framing reflects how the 2024 reporting presented the disclosure: a state investment board reporting holdings in spot bitcoin ETFs in a public filing. The filing does not establish that Wisconsin was the first state to hold any form of bitcoin exposure, and this article does not make that claim. Read the headline as a description of one dated disclosure, not a ranking of states.
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David Krause, an emeritus associate professor of finance at Marquette University, explained the difference to Wisconsin Public Radio. ETF shares move with the price of bitcoin, but the investor does not own the cryptocurrency itself. He compared the fund to a mutual fund, with one key difference: ETF shares trade on stock exchanges during market hours. As he put it, “These are traded on stock exchanges,” and “they have liquidity just like shares of stock.” He also noted that the funds are regulated by the SEC, which “gives investors some confidence that they’re not dealing with directly buying an asset.”
The practical difference shows up in four places:
- What you legally hold. A fund share is a claim on a fund that holds bitcoin on its behalf. A directly owned bitcoin is a unit of the asset itself, controlled by whoever holds the keys.
- Who handles custody. With an ETF, the fund sponsor and its custodian hold the bitcoin. With direct ownership, the owner is responsible for custody, whether through an exchange account or a self-managed wallet.
- How it trades. ETF shares are bought and sold through a brokerage on an exchange, like stocks. Direct bitcoin is transferred on the bitcoin network or through a crypto trading platform.
- What risk remains. Both carry bitcoin price volatility. An ETF adds fund-level risks, such as the fund’s structure, its fees, and how closely its share price tracks bitcoin, which should be checked in each fund’s prospectus.
Wisconsin Public Radio’s account supports the ownership, trading, and liquidity distinctions. It discusses volatility in general terms but does not provide a current risk measurement for either fund, so readers should not treat the reported values as a measure of risk.
What the filing does not tell you
The reported values are not purchase costs
The $99,167,688 and $63,687,310 figures are what the positions were worth at the end of the quarter. The 13F does not show what SWIB paid to acquire them, when it bought them, or whether it changed positions during the quarter. Those are different numbers, and the filing does not provide them.
The board has not explained its reasoning
A spokesperson for SWIB told Wisconsin Public Radio that the board “doesn’t comment on specific assets or acquisitions.” The 2024 reporting therefore does not establish why the board chose these two funds, and no motive should be inferred from the holdings alone. Krause’s comment about diversification was his general observation as a finance professor, not a statement from SWIB.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsLater filings show no bitcoin ETF position
The most recent SWIB 13F reviewed for this article covers the quarter ended June 30, 2026, and was filed on August 14, 2026. Its information table contains no bitcoin entry. That means the filing did not report a bitcoin ETF holding for that quarter. It does not describe what SWIB holds today, and a 13F only covers the securities that must be reported, so it cannot rule out exposure through other channels. A 13F is a dated snapshot of reportable holdings, not a real-time portfolio statement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read a 13F for bitcoin exposure
- Start with the filing index on the SEC’s EDGAR system, which lists the filing date and the quarter end date.
- Open the information table, which lists each reported security, the number of shares or units, and the value at quarter end.
- Check whether the position is a fund share (as with IBIT or GBTC) or something else. A fund share means the filer owns a fund, not the underlying asset.
- Compare filings across quarters, but treat each one as a snapshot. A missing entry in one quarter does not confirm that the investor held no exposure at other times.
Applying these steps to SWIB’s filings answers the headline’s underlying question. SWIB reported ownership of exchange-traded fund shares linked to bitcoin’s price in early 2024. It did not report direct ownership of bitcoin, and its most recent reviewed filing does not show a bitcoin ETF position.
Sources used: SWIB’s Form 13F information tables and filing indexes for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2026, as filed with the SEC on May 14, 2024 and August 14, 2026, respectively; and Rich Kremer, “Wisconsin pension fund now includes bitcoin,” Wisconsin Public Radio, May 16, 2024.
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