Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) expanded its exposure to Bitcoin ahead of the cryptocurrency’s sharp decline, more than tripling its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) during the third quarter, regulatory filings show.
ADIC, an independently managed investment unit within Mubadala Investment Co., increased its holdings to nearly 8 million IBIT shares as of Sept. 30.
The position was valued at about $518 million at the time, up from 2.4 million shares three months earlier, according to a Bloomberg report.
The buildup by the Abu Dhabi council came just weeks before Bitcoin hit a record high in early October and then fell below $92,000 as leveraged bets were unwound across the market.
Abu Dhabi Council says the move is part of a broader, long-term diversification strategy. A spokesperson described Bitcoin as a digital counterpart to gold and said the allocation is intended to sit alongside the fund’s traditional store-of-value assets.
The purchase was not isolated. Mubadala separately reported holding 8.7 million IBIT shares valued at $567 million at the end of the third quarter, unchanged from the previous filing.
Other major institutions, including Harvard, also increased their IBIT rankings in the same period.
Still, investor appetite has cooled since the October sell-off. US Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen roughly $3.1 billion in capital outflows so far in November, according to Bloomberg data.
IBIT alone suffered a single-day record $523 million in redemptions after Bitcoin fell below a key price level that left many ETF investors underwater.
Bitcoin movements in Abu Dhabi
The increase in ADIC allocation is notable given Abu Dhabi’s financial reach and its growing ambition to establish itself as a global crypto hub. The emirate’s wealth funds collectively oversee more than $1.7 trillion, and Mubadala has already been a major player in the expansion of the region’s digital assets.
Earlier this year, MGX, a technology investment firm backed by Mubadala, acquired a $2 billion stake in Binance using a stablecoin linked to US President Donald Trump’s family.
Within ADIC, the push toward Bitcoin aligns with a broader shift toward global expansion. The council, initially created in 2007 and later dissolved under the Mubadala structure, continues to operate with its own mandate and investment strategy.
It has recently bolstered its leadership team, adding executives such as Alain Carrier, former head of international business at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Ben Samild, previously chief investment officer at Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, according to Bloomberg.
While cryptocurrency volatility remains a concern for global investors, Abu Dhabi’s stance underscores a different calculus: Large sovereign wealth funds are increasingly comfortable treating Bitcoin as a long-term strategic asset.
Other governments are moving in the same direction. El Salvador added more than $100 million worth of Bitcoin this week, the Czech central bank revealed its first cryptocurrency purchase, and Kazakhstan is creating a national cryptocurrency reserve fund that could reach $1 billion.
Bitcoin price is currently in the range of $90,300.
