Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has announced plans to invest a portion of the city’s pension fund in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), highlighting a significant step toward integrating crypto into municipal financial strategies.
In a social media post on July 25, Fulop shared that the Jersey City pension fund is updating its documentation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include Bitcoin ETFs. Jersey City is the second largest city in the state of New Jersey.
The move follows a similar decision by the Wisconsin Pension Fund, which allocated 2% of its $156 billion in assets to Bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter. Experts believe other states will soon follow in its footsteps and diversify a portion of their portfolios with Bitcoin ETFs.
According to Fulop:
“The question on whether Crypto/Bitcoin is here to stay is largely over and crypto/Bitcoin won.”
The Bitcoin ETFs have recorded remarkable performance since their launch, with BlackRock’s IBIT recently overtaking Nasdaq’s QQQ in terms of inflows for the year.
Fulop, who has been serving as the city’s Mayor since 2013, highlighted that he has been a long-standing proponent of crypto and blockchain technology. He emphasized the immense potential of these innovations, saying:
“I’ve been a long-time believer (through ups/downs) in crypto, but broadly, beyond crypto, I do believe blockchain is among the most important new technology innovations since the internet.”
The SEC approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs on US exchanges earlier this year, paving the way for public pension funds to consider such investments.
However, Jersey City and Wisconsin remain among the few public entities exploring this avenue despite expectations that more would follow in the third quarter. Additionally, Fulop did not mention any plans to invest in other cryptocurrencies or related assets — such as Ethereum ETFs, which began trading earlier this week.
While major financial institutions like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have shown limited engagement with Bitcoin ETFs, with combined investments of less than $1 million, Fulop’s decision signals a growing acceptance and recognition of the potential of digital assets.
As the city progresses with the SEC paperwork, the implementation of Bitcoin ETFs in the pension fund is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. Fulop expressed confidence that such investments would become more common in the future.
Based on CryptoSlate data, Bitcoin reacted positively to the news and was trading at $66,000 as of press time — reversing some of the day’s losses.
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