Fulop,
who
has
been
the
mayor
of
Jersey
City
since
2013,
took
to
X
(formerly
Twitter)
to
announce
the
forthcoming
investment,
writing:
“Not
my
normal
subject
matter
in
a
post
but
I’ll
share
anyway
–
the
question
on
whether
[c]rypto/Bitcoin
is
here
to
stay
is
largely
over
[and]
crypto/Bitcoin
won.”
Fulop,
a
Democrat,
has
thrown
his
hat
into
the
ring
for
New
Jersey’s
2025
gubernatorial
election.
Incumbent
Governor
Phil
Murphy,
also
a
Democrat,
has
already
served
two
terms
and
is
ineligible
for
reelection.
Fulop
added
that
the
city’s
pension
fund,
the
Employees
Retirement
System
of
Jersey
City,
is
currently
in
the
process
of
updating
paperwork
with
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
to
allocate
a
percentage
of
the
fund
to
bitcoin
(BTC)
ETFs.
According
to
Fulop’s
tweet,
the
investment
is
expected
to
be
completed
“by
end
of
the
summer.”
Though
Fulop
did
not
specify
exactly
how
much
of
the
pension
funds’
assets
under
management
will
be
allocated
to
bitcoin
ETFs,
he
said
it
would
be
“similar”
to
the
2%
allocation
to
bitcoin
ETFs
made
by
Wisconsin’s
state
pension
fund
earlier
this
year.
Fulop
did
not
specify
which
bitcoin
ETF
Jersey
City
was
considering
selecting
for
its
investment.
“I’ve
been
a
long
time
believer
(through
ups/downs)
in
crypto
but
[b]roadly,
beyond
crypto
[I]
do
believe
blockchain
is
amongst
the
most
important
new
technology
innovations
since
the
internet,”
Fulop
said.
Interest
in
bitcoin
from
public
pension
funds
is
growing
slowly
but
surely.
Wisconsin’s
public
pension
plan
–
the
State
of
Wisconsin
Investment
Board,
which
has
roughly
$156
billion
in
assets
under
management
–
is
the
biggest
pension
plan
to
dive
into
crypto
so
far,
with
a
$160
million
investment
into
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
earlier
this
year.
Some
small
pension
funds
like
the
Houston
Firefighters’
Relief
and
Retirement
Fund,
which
has
about
$5
billion
in
assets
under
management,
have
been
invested
in
crypto
for
several
years.
The
pensions
of
Fairfax
County,
Virginia,
also
invested
in
crypto
exposure
through
VanEck’s
New
Finance
Income
Fund,
which
became
a
creditor
to
crypto
firm
Genesis
as
it
filed
for
bankruptcy
last
year.
Outside
of
the
U.S.,
public
pension
plans
including
Japan’s
$1.4
trillion
Government
Pension
Investment
Fund,
the
largest
pension
plan
in
the
world,
put
out
a
request
for
information
on
bitcoin
investments
earlier
this
year.
“I’m
sure
eventually
it
will
be
more
common,”
Fulop
said
of
pension
funds
allocating
to
crypto
in
his
tweet.
The
Jersey
City
Mayor’s
Office
did
not
respond
to
CoinDesk’s
request
for
comment
by
publication
time.
