The Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), an independently managed investment unit within Mubadala Investment Co., significantly increased its exposure to Bitcoin in the third quarter of 2025, regulatory filings reveal. The council more than tripled its stake in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
As of September 30, 2025, ADIC's holdings reached nearly 8 million IBIT shares, a substantial increase from the 2.4 million shares held three months prior. At the time, this position was valued at approximately $518 million. According to Bloomberg, the average purchase price for the acquisition was $64.52 per share.
The accumulation by the Abu Dhabi council occurred just weeks before Bitcoin experienced a surge to a record high in early October, followed by a sharp decline below $92,000 as leveraged bets unwound across the market. Despite the subsequent market turbulence and a cool down in investor appetite since the October selloff, ADIC's increased investment reflects a strategic expansion into digital assets and confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term store of value.
A spokesperson for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council described Bitcoin as a digital counterpart to gold. The allocation is intended to sit alongside the fund's traditional store-of-value assets, serving to diversify portfolios.
ADIC's move aligns with a broader trend of institutional Bitcoin purchases via regulated exchange-traded products launched in the U.S. earlier in 2025. Mubadala separately reported holding 8.7 million IBIT shares valued at $567 million at the end of the third quarter, unchanged from the prior filing. Other major institutions, including Harvard, also added to IBIT positions in the same period.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, launched by BlackRock, has rapidly become one of the largest spot crypto products globally. ADIC's near 8 million-share holding places it among the more significant disclosed institutional owners by share count.
It is worth noting that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen roughly $3.1 billion in outflows so far in November, including a single-day record of $523 million in redemptions from IBIT after Bitcoin broke below a key price level.
Abu Dhabi continues to position itself as a crypto finance hub, with sovereign funds managing over $1.7 trillion making multiple digital asset investments. The investment by ADIC underscores how rapidly sovereign capital can move into crypto-linked securities, even on the eve of a downturn in digital asset prices. As regulatory frameworks evolve, other sovereign wealth funds may follow Abu Dhabi's example.
