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Michigan Pension Fund Bets on Bitcoin
The State of Michigan Retirement System (SMRS) has significantly increased its bitcoin exposure, signaling either a growing confidence in crypto or a willingness to take calculated risks. According to a recent 13F filing with the SEC, SMRS boosted its holdings in the Ark Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) to 300,000 shares—up from 110,000 last quarter.
At ARKB’s current price of $37.79 and bitcoin trading near $114,000, this stake is worth around $11.3 million, representing just 0.03% of the fund’s $79 billion in assets. Though modest in size, the move is notable given that most pension funds avoid cryptocurrency due to its volatility. SMRS also continues to hold 460,000 shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), valued at approximately $9.6 million. These holdings reflect a cautious but meaningful belief in the long-term potential of digital assets—an uncommon stance among traditional institutional investors like public pension funds.
Learn from this investor’s $100m mistake
In 2010, a Grammy-winning artist passed on investing $200K in an emerging real estate disruptor. That stake could be worth $100+ million today.
One year later, another real estate disruptor, Zillow, went public. This time, everyday investors had regrets, missing pre-IPO gains.
Now, a new real estate innovator, Pacaso – founded by a former Zillow exec – is disrupting a $1.3T market. And unlike the others, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.
Pacaso’s co-ownership model has generated $1B+ in luxury home sales and service fees, earned $110M+ in gross profits to date, and received backing from the same VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.
Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
OpenAI Eyes $500 Billion Valuation
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is reportedly exploring a new share sale that could let employees cash out and value the company at around $500 billion—up sharply from its current $300 billion valuation. This potential transaction would happen ahead of a possible IPO and could allow current and former staff to sell several billion dollars worth of equity.
The move reflects OpenAI’s explosive growth, fueled by its flagship product ChatGPT, which now boasts roughly 700 million weekly active users—up from 400 million earlier this year. Revenue has surged as well, reaching an annualized pace of $12 billion and possibly hitting $20 billion by year-end. Backed by Microsoft and in the middle of a major funding round led by SoftBank, OpenAI is positioning itself for long-term dominance in AI. Talks are also underway to restructure the company’s governance model to make room for a future IPO. Thrive Capital may take part in the share sale.
SoftBank Profit Surges on AI Bets
SoftBank reported a strong fiscal first-quarter profit of $2.87 billion, beating expectations of $870 million. This marks its second straight profitable quarter, a sharp turnaround from a loss during the same period last year. The gain was driven largely by its Vision Fund, which saw asset values rise by $4.8 billion and recorded a segment profit of $3.07 billion.
SoftBank continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, leading a $40 billion funding round for OpenAI and awaiting approval for a $6.5 billion acquisition of AI chipmaker Ampere Computing. It’s also a key player in the $500 billion U.S.-based Stargate project, focused on developing data centers and AI infrastructure. Investors are closely watching how the firm plans to fund these major initiatives. In May, SoftBank posted its first annual profit in four years, helped by strong returns from long-held investments in companies like Alibaba, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom.
U.S. Doubles Tariffs on India
The White House announced a new 25% tariff on imports from India, raising the total tariff rate to 50%, citing India’s ongoing oil trade with Russia. President Trump’s executive order states that India is directly or indirectly importing Russian oil, and the increased tariffs are a response. The new rate will take effect in 21 days, while a previously announced 25% tariff begins Thursday.
This marks one of the highest U.S. tariff levels on any trading partner and reflects Trump’s commitment to penalize countries that continue doing business with Russia amid the Ukraine conflict. India criticized the move as unfair and said its energy imports are driven by national security needs for its 1.4 billion citizens.
The administration is also evaluating whether other countries are importing Russian oil and could face similar actions. Russia defended India, stating countries should freely choose their trade partners without external pressure or interference.
DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.