Widening Government Strategy Holdings Suggests Increased Structural Demand for BTC: StanChart

Government entities increased their holdings of Strategy (MSTR), a bitcoin BTC proxy, in the first quarter according to new data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), investment bank Standard Chartered (STAN) said in a research report on Tuesday.

In some cases "MSTR holdings by government entities reflect a desire to gain bitcoin exposure where local regulators do not allow direct BTC holdings," wrote Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.

Strategy, which pioneered the bitcoin treasury model where corporates hold the crypto on their balance sheet as a reserve asset, currently holds 576,230 BTC worth around $59 billion at current market prices.

The bank noted that both Norway's Government Pension Fund and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) increased their Strategy holdings by the equivalent of 700 bitcoin in the first quarter.

The South Korean National Pension Service and the Korea Investment Corporation expanded their holdings by a combined 700 BTC equivalent, the report said.

U.S. state retirement funds, including California, New York and North Carolina, together added to their holdings the equivalent of 1,000 bitcoin, the bank said.

AP Funds in Sweden and Landesbank in Liechtenstein grew their MSTR holdings marginally, the bank noted.

France's Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) and the Saudi Central Bank both added a small position in MSTR for the first time, Standard Chartered said.

Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) direct holding data was "disappointing" overall in the first quarter, the report added.

The bank said the most recent 13F data supports its central thesis that bitcoin will reach $500,000 before President Trump leaves office as the cryptocurrency attracts a wider range of institutional buyers.

Read more: Strategy Expands Bitcoin Holdings With Latest Multi-Million Dollar Purchase