Standard Chartered Reports Growing Sovereign Bitcoin Exposure Through MicroStrategy Holdings, Backing a $500,000 Price Target by 2029, Amid Rising Institutional Interest as of May 2025.

Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick says recent SEC 13F filings support a possible rise in Bitcoin to $500,000 by end-2028. While direct ETF holdings dipped in Q1

Standard Chartered is reporting growing sovereign interest in Bitcoin through its exposure to MicroStrategy, backing a $500,000 price target by 2029.

Standard Chartered’s report, based on Q1 2025 SEC 13F filings, showcases a significant increase in sovereign wealth funds and government entities holding shares in MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), a company known for its massive Bitcoin holdings.

As the SEC filings show, several sovereign wealth funds and government entities have been adding to their positions in MicroStrategy, effectively accumulating a large amount of Bitcoin exposure.

Among the notable additions are:

• Norway’s Government Pension Fund, which is the largest in the world, increased its position in MicroStrategy throughout the quarter, ultimately adding the equivalent of 700 BTC.

• The Swiss National Bank also boosted its position in MicroStrategy, incrementally adding the equivalent of 700 BTC to its portfolio.

• South Korea’s pension funds, known for their significant investments, collectively increased their exposure to MicroStrategy by 700 BTC.

Moreover, U.S. state retirement funds, including those in California, New York, North Carolina, and Kentucky, displayed interest in MicroStrategy, incrementally adding a collective 1,000 BTC equivalent to their holdings.

First-time buyers like Saudi Arabia and France entered the space with smaller positions, signaling expanding global interest.

This indirect exposure aligns with a broader trend of institutional adoption. Standard Chartered’s head of digital assets, Geoffrey Kendrick, highlighted that several institutions, including Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and Charles Schwab’s (NYSE:C) mutual funds, showed keen interest in Bitcoin.

Kendrick further emphasized that this trend supports Standard Chartered’s $500,000 Bitcoin BTC price target by 2029, coinciding with the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

However, the report also noted a decline in direct Bitcoin ETF ownership, with Wisconsin unloading its 3,400 BTC-equivalent position in BlackRock’s (NYSE:BLK) IBIT ETF, indicating a strategic shift toward indirect exposure via MSTR.

This shift could be attributed to the varying risk appetites of different government entities, with some preferring the concentrated exposure of a few large positions, while others might favor a more diversified approach with smaller ETF holdings.

The growing sovereign interest in Bitcoin via MicroStrategy underscores its increasing acceptance as a store of value among traditional financial entities.

This aligns with reports from River and DeItaone on social media, highlighting the magnitude of MicroStrategy’s strategy in diverting funds from traditional assets like bonds.

With its strategy of using debt to acquire Bitcoin—adding $42.6 billion to corporate treasuries since 2021, as per River’s May 2025 report—MicroStrategy has become a proxy for Bitcoin exposure, especially for entities like the Saudi Arabia sovereign fund, which prefer not to invest directly in cryptocurrencies but seek exposure through equities.

This trend could drive Bitcoin’s price higher, as increased demand from sovereign funds may reduce available supply, potentially pushing the cryptocurrency to the $150,000 level by the end of 2025 if institutional inflows continue at the current pace.