- Buy Crypto
- Markets
Futures- Spot
- Copy Trade
- Earn
- More
Wisconsin Pension Fund Sold $300M BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Stake Amid Tariff Turmoil, New Filing Shows
By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/16 14:30:07
0
Share
In brief According to an SEC filing, Wisconsin sold its entire $300M stake in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF in early 2025. The sale came amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions and sweeping tariffs from the Trump administration. Crypto markets tumbled, with Bitcoin falling below $75,000 and Ethereum dropping to two-year lows as trade fears grew. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board quietly liquidated its entire $300 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) sometime during the first quarter of 2025, according to a new 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The sale occurred against the backdrop of growing market uncertainty triggered by a wave of U.S. tariffs that rattled global trade and risk assets. Notably, the filing’s cutoff date—March 31—came just two days before the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2, 2025—a reference to the day the U.S. imposed comprehensive tariffs affecting nearly all its major trading partners. The SEC filing, dated May 15, confirms SWIB sold its Bitcoin ETF holdings ahead of the March 31 reporting date for the end of the first quarter of the year. According to the board’s previous filing, dated February 14, the fund held 6,060,351 IBIT shares, worth approximately $321,501,621. Shifting market optics The broader economic landscape also shifted dramatically following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, which began an aggressive new trade policy that seeks to reshore manufacturing on U.S. soil and spur domestic growth. The administration announced 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on Chinese imports on February 1. Two days later, the Canada and Mexico tariffs were paused for 30 days, though the 10% tariff on China took effect on February 4. By February 11, President Trump reinstated a 25% tariff on steel imports and raised the tariff on aluminum to 25%. Trade pressure ramped up on March 4, when the U.S. increased tariffs on China to 20%. The tit-for-tat policy spiral of tariffs led to significant market instability, with Goldman Sachs analysts warning the new tariffs could push core inflation to 3.8% this year. The crypto markets were not left unscathed, where Bitcoin fell 2.3% to around $83,200, while Ethereum dropped 4.5%. Amid a retaliatory spiral, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods surged to 145%, while China raised tariffs on U.S. products to 125%, sending Bitcoin below $75,000. Tensions began to ease in May when the U.S. and China temporarily reduced tariffs. The U.S. lowered its rate on Chinese goods to 30%, while China reduced its tariff on U.S. imports to 10%. As of mid-May, President Trump has also paused most reciprocal tariffs on other countries. Edited by Sebastian Sinclair Daily Debrief Newsletter Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Source: https://decrypt.co/320373/wisconsin-pension-fund-300m-blackrock-bitcoin-etf-tariff-turmoil
You may also like
Dune Stablecoin Research: The Flow and Demand of a $300 Billion Market
In the dataset, transfers are no longer simply labeled as pure "transaction volume," but are classified as different on-chain activities. This is the difference between "just knowing that $100 trillion has been transferred" and "understanding why it was transferred."
Stripe Annual Letter: New cognitive density is extremely high, especially the 5-level model of "AI + Payments"
Every trend here is affecting everyone's future survival.
Sam Altman's Twenty-Four Hours: The Pentagon said "no" twice, but only one was serious
In Silicon Valley, Altman's sub-12-hour move has a name. It's not called backstabbing, it's called timing.
The US-Iran Conflict Spreads to the Crypto Space: What to Expect in the Market on Monday
The most important industry in the crypto world, only 300 kilometers away from the missile's impact point
Lily Liu, the chair of the Solana Foundation, shouted "Don't waste time on crypto," is the crypto industry really dead?
The interest of the younger generation is shifting from cryptocurrency to the field of artificial intelligence, which coincides with the current phenomenon in the cryptocurrency industry.
The little deer live by the water and grass
Mining companies have never been the most devout believers in Bitcoin. Under the pressures of halving compressing profits, financial reports showing revenue growth without profit increase, and coin prices falling below mining costs, the industry is collectively de-risking.
The world belongs to Chinese people who speak English
The world is vast, and only playing half of it is truly a loss.
Why Stop at 126K? Michael Saylor Breaks Down BTC Stagnation and Retail Absence Truth
Bitcoin is digital capital, and I will spend a thousand hours explaining it to you. Eventually, you will understand, but you will still have to endure a 45% crash.
Virtuals Protocol's inaugural Titan project: ROBO aims to give a wallet to a robot
This is a key step in Virtuals expanding the Agent Economy into the Embodied AI and Robotics field.
Stablecoin Latest Report: Actual Distribution and Circulation Much More Notable Than Supply
The Truth about Stablecoin Circulation Speed, Concentration, and Structure After Doubling the Supply
Paradigm's New Arithmetic: When Crypto Can't Hold 12.7 Billion, AI Becomes the Answer
It took Paradigm three years to emerge from the ruins of FTX.
Wintermute Founder: In the Lost Cryptocurrency Market, What Can We Still Do?
This is more like a manifesto, discussing "the very reason we are here."
$1.3 Billion Debt: BitDeer Faces Tough Battle
Wu Jihan is waiting for AI's money to catch up with the speed of debt.
Anthropic's IPO Gamble: At the Most Unlikely Moment, It Chose to Say No
In the AI Era, what is the most valuable thing?
Paradigm's Math Problem: $12.7 Billion, Too Big for a Single Crypto Fund
Emerging from the ruins of FTX, Paradigm took three years
Ethereum Unveils Scaling Roadmap, What's Different This Time?
Short-term improvements to execution efficiency through the Gas mechanism optimization and block validation parallelization, and long-term scalability through ZK-EVM and blobs data architecture.
Anthropic Ban Wave, OpenAI $100 Billion Funding Controversy: What Is the Overseas Crypto Community Talking About Today?
What Have Foreigners Been Most Interested in Over the Last 24 Hours?
Morning News | OpenAI receives $110 billion investment; Solana launches Solana Payments; M0, MoonPay, and PayPal jointly launch PYUSDx
Overview of Important Market Events on February 27
Dune Stablecoin Research: The Flow and Demand of a $300 Billion Market
In the dataset, transfers are no longer simply labeled as pure "transaction volume," but are classified as different on-chain activities. This is the difference between "just knowing that $100 trillion has been transferred" and "understanding why it was transferred."
Stripe Annual Letter: New cognitive density is extremely high, especially the 5-level model of "AI + Payments"
Every trend here is affecting everyone's future survival.
Sam Altman's Twenty-Four Hours: The Pentagon said "no" twice, but only one was serious
In Silicon Valley, Altman's sub-12-hour move has a name. It's not called backstabbing, it's called timing.
The US-Iran Conflict Spreads to the Crypto Space: What to Expect in the Market on Monday
The most important industry in the crypto world, only 300 kilometers away from the missile's impact point
Lily Liu, the chair of the Solana Foundation, shouted "Don't waste time on crypto," is the crypto industry really dead?
The interest of the younger generation is shifting from cryptocurrency to the field of artificial intelligence, which coincides with the current phenomenon in the cryptocurrency industry.
The little deer live by the water and grass
Mining companies have never been the most devout believers in Bitcoin. Under the pressures of halving compressing profits, financial reports showing revenue growth without profit increase, and coin prices falling below mining costs, the industry is collectively de-risking.
App