United States: historic gold investor now buys Bitcoin (BTC)

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Texas-based investment management firm US Global Investors has gained significant exposure to Bitcoin by investing in Grayscale funds.

According to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released on August 30, the company added more than $ 566,000 of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares to three of its eight mutual funds.

Another major institution exposing itself to Bitcoin

SEC filings show the company invested GBTC $ 302,899 in its Gold and Precious Metals Fund, $ 222,532 in its World Precious Minerals Fund and $ 40,958 in its Global Resources Fund. The BTC exposure represents 0.19% of the net assets of the Gold and Precious Metals Fund and the World Precious Minerals Fund. The company classified its position in GBTC as common stock, according to the filing.

The move surprised many in the crypto industry, as U.S. global investors have historically been exposed to gold, minerals, precious metals, oil, and other natural resources.

However, Frank Holmes, CEO and CIO of US Global Investors, is also executive chairman of HIVE Blockchain Technologies. HIVE is a publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company based in Vancouver, Canada.

In 2017, US Global Investors and Holmes personally made a strategic investment in HIVE, after which he was appointed interim CEO.

Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital and well-known Bitcoin critic, was among the few who did not view the company’s decision as extremely optimistic for the industry. He noted that Holmes’ stance is not indicative of a larger shift in the way stock managers view cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin.

Frank Holmes, the CEO of US Global Investors is also the CEO of Hive Blockchain. He has been very active in crypto since 2017. So this is not a surprise nor does it indicate a change in the way other #gold stock managers view crypto or #Bitcoin.

– Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 30, 2021

US Global Investors is not the first major equity manager to gain exposure to Bitcoin through Grayscale. US multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley has invested in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and owns over $ 36 million in GBTC shares. With just over 928,000 shares held, Morgan’s Insight Fund is exposed to 870 BTC.

Last month, CryptoSlate announced that a division of Chicago’s First Midwest Bank had increased its exposure to Bitcoin. In a July filing with the SEC, the bank said it held 29,498 GBTC shares as of June 30.

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