State of Michigan Retirement System owns nearly $6.6 million worth of ARKB spot bitcoin ETF

Another state retirement fund revealed that it owns substantial shares in a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

The State of Michigan Retirement System revealed that it owns 110,000 shares worth of ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF as of June 30, according to a Tuesday 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Board's shares in ARK 21 were valued at $6,597,800. 

Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas affirmed the System's purchase in ARKB, noting that its ETF ownership is small percentage-wise. "It's a start," he said, adding that the State Retirement Board of Michigan is the third pension entity to report owning spot bitcoin ETF shares.

The Michigan pension agency follows the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and Jersey City in adding spot bitcoin ETF shares as a pension fund investment. In May, the Wisconsin state agency reported that it owned 2,450,400 shares of BlackRock's IBIT worth nearly $100 million and 1,013,000 shares of Grayscale's GBTC worth around $64 million at the end of March.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop also noted the city will invest a percentage of its pension fund into spot bitcoin ETFs. Fulop predicts the process for the city to invest in spot bitcoin ETFs will conclude by summer's end.

ARKB , like the 10 other spot bitcoin ETFs approved on Jan. 10, provides investors exposure to the price movements of bitcoin without needing to own the asset itself. ARKB maintains 6.22% of the total market share for spot bitcoin ETFs, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. The fund manages $3.09 billion in assets under management.

The Block reached out to the Michigan State Treasurer for comment.