According to a report by South Korean media outlet “News1,” a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 16 revealed that the National Pension Service (NPS) of South Korea purchased 282,673 shares of Coinbase exchange stock (COIN) in the third quarter, valued at approximately 26.1 billion Korean won (about 19.9 million U.S. dollars).
Reportedly, this investment marks the first time that the National Pension Service has included a digital asset-related company in its U.S. stock investment portfolio. The National Pension Service is South Korea’s largest investment group and the third-largest pension fund globally, managing over 997.4 trillion Korean won (approximately 800 billion U.S. dollars) in assets.
The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase went public on the Nasdaq exchange in April 2021, and its stock price has shown some correlation with the performance of the cryptocurrency market. Following NPS’s purchase of Coinbase shares, the strengthening of the Bitcoin price has brought substantial profits. It is reported that NPS’s average purchase price per share of Coinbase stock was $70.5, and based on the closing price of $98.15 on the 15th, NPS has gained approximately 40% in profit in just one quarter.
NPS, which has traditionally taken a cautious approach towards the volatility of virtual assets, has clarified its position. Despite facing criticism in 2021 for indirect investments in virtual asset-related businesses, the pension fund explained that it only invests in exchanges and does not consider cryptocurrencies as part of its investment strategy.