According to CoinDesk, the municipal pension plan of Jersey City, New Jersey, is set to invest in Bitcoin through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This announcement was made by Mayor Steven Fulop via social media on Thursday. While the investment amount is not expected to be substantial, it marks another step toward broader cryptocurrency adoption. This move follows a similar decision by a Wisconsin pension fund earlier this year.
Fulop, who has been the mayor since 2013 and is a Democratic candidate for New Jersey’s 2025 gubernatorial election, stated that the question of whether cryptocurrency and bitcoin are here to stay is largely settled. He revealed that the Employees Retirement System of Jersey City is in the process of updating paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allocate a portion of the fund to bitcoin ETFs. The investment is anticipated to be finalized by the end of the summer.
Although Fulop did not disclose the exact percentage of the pension fund's assets that will be allocated to bitcoin ETFs, he mentioned it would be similar to the 2% allocation made by Wisconsin’s state pension fund earlier this year. The specific bitcoin ETF that Jersey City plans to invest in was not identified.
Fulop expressed his long-standing belief in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, describing blockchain as one of the most significant technological innovations since the internet. Interest in bitcoin from public pension funds is gradually increasing. Wisconsin’s public pension plan, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages approximately $156 billion in assets, made a $160 million investment in spot bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. Smaller pension funds, such as the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund, have also been investing in crypto for several years.
Additionally, the pensions of Fairfax County, Virginia, have invested in crypto through VanEck's New Finance Income Fund, which became a creditor to the crypto firm Genesis during its bankruptcy filing last year. Internationally, Japan’s $1.4 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund, the largest pension plan globally, requested information on bitcoin investments earlier this year.
Fulop expressed confidence that pension fund allocations to cryptocurrency would become more common in the future. The Jersey City Mayor’s Office did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment by the time of publication.
