California Pension Fund CALPERS recorded mixed reactions from board candidates for crypto investments during Wednesday’s forum, despite being held by a system that holds shares in the Strategic Bitcoin Finance Company’s Strategic Strategy.
Six candidates competing for a seat on the California Civil Service Retirement System Management Committee Expression A split view when asked if Bitcoin should be included in the $56 million fund portfolio.
CalPers holds 410,596 strategic stakes worth $165.9 million according to that Q2 13F filinggives the pension system a significant indirect thing Bitcoin Exposure passing through the company.
The forum began with tension as incumbent David Miller attacked challenger Dominic Bay in an opening statement, saying “cryptocurrency should not sit on our board, and should never be.”
Calpers “owns shares in MicroStrategy, the world’s largest Bitcoin holding company,” Bei replied, questioning why the fund maintains considerable indirect exposure while opposing direct investment.
Michael Saylers strategy It holds over $70 billion in BTC, which is more than 636,505 BTC, making it a popular means of in-house crypto exposure without purchasing directly.
Miller attempted to harmonize this obvious contradiction, saying, “Investing in a business working in a Bitcoin transaction is a very different game than investing directly in the purchase of Bitcoin.”
Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer of Komodo Platform, said Decryption The “Bitcoin is not very volatile for pensions, especially in light of inflation.” The market “clearly chose Bitcoin as a valuable store,” he said.
He said Calpers “is basically too scary to invest directly in Bitcoin,” and “the public actually holds Bitcoin, and not a promise from an intermediary because they have an obligation to hold Bitcoin independently.”
Meanwhile, challenger Steve Melmell declared, “No hell!” When asked about the location of the code in Calpers.
He compared the code to past financial disasters such as Orange County Bankruptcy and Enron, calling it “opaque” and said “the pension system has no place.”
Challenger Troy Johnson took a more nuanced stance and admitted his concerns while still open to future considerations.
“I’m very wary of ultra-sensitive investments like crypto,” he said, but he added, “I don’t close the door completely.”
The split was extended to how candidates viewed blockchain technology and direct crypto investments.
Incumbent Jose Luis Pacheco has rejected the possibility of Bitcoin as an investment, calling blockchain a “promising emerging technology.”
Meanwhile, other state pension funds have increased their exposure to cryptocurrency with state pensions in Michigan. Triple your Bitcoin ETF holdings Wisconsin Investment Board Holds Up to $11.4 million in second quarter Over $387 million Bitcoin ETF Stocks and Florida Retirement System Maintaining 240,026 strategic share It’s worth $97 million.
The November election will determine whether Calpers continues its current approach to indirect crypto exposure, or whether it could open a debate about direct digital asset investment.
