South Korea’s state pension fund, the Korea Teachers Credit Union (KTCU), is said to be seeking access to bitcoin (BTC) through a cryptocurrency exchange fund (ETF).
KTCU, one of South Korea’s largest institutional investors, is considering investing in a pure Bitcoin ETF, or Bitcoin-linked ETF, in the first half of 2022, local news agency The Korea Economic Daily reported on Monday.
According to the report, KTCU is considering investing in several Bitcoin ETF products, including South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments. The company launched two ETFs that track the value of bitcoin futures through its Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs in April 2021.
“As asset managers such as Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments launch several well-made ETF products related to cryptocurrency, we plan to invest in ETF products after consulting with local asset managers,” said the head of KTCU.
The official also mentioned a potential Bitcoin ETF investment by Mirae Asset’s Global X ETFs, which filed a Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July.
According to the report, KTCU is the second largest institutional investor in South Korea with total assets of $40.2 billion. The pension fund invested 40% of its investment in alternative assets, 10% in domestic and 9% in international stocks. KTCU has not specified the size and other details of its potential Bitcoin ETF investment.
On the topic: Why now? It took the Securities and Exchange Commission eight years to license the Bitcoin ETF in the United States.
This news comes at a time when global pension funds are becoming more and more interested in accessing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and the large corporations in the industry. Last week, the Houston Relief and Retirement Fund bought $25 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether (ETH). The company said Thursday that the Ontario Teachers’ Retirement Plan Board has participated in a $420 million funding round for major cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
