The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), dramatically increased its indirect exposure to Bitcoin in 2025. According to data from crypto research firm K33, the fund's indirect Bitcoin holdings surged by 149% year-over-year, reaching 9,573 BTC valued at approximately $837 million by the end of 2025.
This growth occurred despite a period of weak Bitcoin price performance, with the cryptocurrency trading near $82,500 at the time of reporting, down more than 6% over 24 hours. The exposure is entirely indirect, as NBIM does not hold Bitcoin directly on its books. Instead, it is derived from the fund's equity stakes in publicly listed companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets.
The primary contributor to this exposure is Strategy, which accounts for 81% of the total, equivalent to 7,801 BTC. Strategy is the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with over 712,647 BTC worth approximately $58.96 billion. Other significant contributors include Metaplanet (593 BTC), MARA (618 BTC), Coinbase (156 BTC), and Block (105 BTC).
K33's Head of Research, Vetle Lunde, noted that the fund's total indirect BTC exposure at the end of 2024 was 3,839 BTC, meaning it increased by 5,734 BTC over the course of 2025. Lunde highlighted that the actual weighting of NBIM's indirect Bitcoin exposure remained unchanged from the first half of 2025, representing slightly less than 0.04% of the fund's total assets, which exceed $2 trillion. He suggested this indicates a "deliberate weighting" in the exposure.
"My motivation for monitoring NBIM's indirect BTC exposure is to highlight how BTC is finding its way into any well-diversified portfolio, deliberate or not," Lunde stated. "While short-term price action sucks, the growth trend highlights the strong underlying institutional adoption of BTC."
The fund's support for Bitcoin-linked companies was further evidenced in December 2025 when it announced it would support five of Metaplanet's management proposals, including its Bitcoin accumulation strategy. Metaplanet has already surpassed its target of accumulating 21,000 Bitcoin by 2026 and now holds 35,102 BTC.
