Is Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund ready to adopt Bitcoin?
Each day, Coinrule will run through the state of the digital assets market for Blockbeat, your home for news, analysis, opinion and commentary on blockchain and digital assets
Over the weekend the BitcoinAtlantis conference took place in Madeira. Here, many of the Bitcoin thought-leaders gathered to discuss the future of the growing $1+ trillion asset. The biggest source of speculation was the attendance of one of the Emir of Qatar’s private jets. Rumours suggested that representatives from the oil-rich state were there to hear the Bitcoiners’ pitch. The Qataris may be considering investing some of the country’s energy profits into the asset. The rumours were given more attention when Anthony Scaramucci of Skybridge Capital explained on an X post that Bitcoin legend, Max Keiser, had been convincing them to join El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption strategy for their sovereign wealth fund.
Last cycle, back in June 2021, the news of El Salvador adopting Bitcoin had a slightly lacklustre effect on price. During this period, Bitcoin was taking a breather after making new all-time highs in April 2021. Many also considered El Salvador to be too small to have an impact on the larger world. Compared to El Salvador, Qatar’s adoption could be influential. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is worth around $500 billion. Qatar reallocating 2% of their fund to Bitcoin would have similar effects to a whole other BlackRock spot ETF. IBIT has now accumulated over $10 billion worth of BTC.
Qatar, and other states, may invest in BTC to improve portfolio performance or to diversify to reduce overall portfolio volatility. Alternatively, it may also be a way for them to divest from dollar-denominated assets, that traditionally yield the greatest returns, without reducing performance. Sanctions on countries also demonstrated to the world that as long as their assets remained on systems controlled by other countries, they could not oppose the interests of certain countries. Bitcoin’s impartiality and decentralisation are a way for countries to assert ownership over their assets, with a level playing field for all who use it. Bitcoin could also be used to price and trade energy without the dollar.
Last week, analysts also noticed a new Bitcoin wallet exceeding 50,000 BTC. The wallet has been termed “Mr 100” for its multiple 100 BTC buys every day. However, on Friday “Mr 100” stopped buying for the first time in several weeks. Could this be a billionaire accumulating, or a nation state diversifying their sovereign wealth fund? Are they sensing a shifting tide, or simply met their accumulation goal of 51,164 BTC? Time will tell.