A country holds a billion USD Bitcoin treasury

Through two major government-backed investment funds, the UAE increased its exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) in the fourth quarter of 2025.

According to information published through reports submitted to the US Securities Commission (SEC), Mubadala Investment Company, a national wealth fund backed by the UAE government, purchased nearly 4 million additional fund certificates of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from October to December 2025, bringing the total holdings to 12.7 million fund certificates. The move comes as BTC prices fell about 23% in the last quarter of last year. Mubadala started buying IBIT in late 2024 and has continuously increased its position since then.

Al Warda Investments, another investment management company in the UAE, held 8.2 million fund certificates at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, a slight increase from 7.96 million certificates three months ago. This fund is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, managing a diverse portfolio of assets for government organizations here.

In total, the two funds held more than $1 billion in Bitcoin through IBIT at the end of 2025. However, as the cryptocurrency continued to decline by another 23% from the beginning of 2026, the combined portfolio value is now just over $800 million as of February 17, assuming they do not buy more in 2026.

The above move shows growing institutional interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs, even during a period of market stress. IBIT, launched in early 2024, is one of the largest spot Bitcoin ETFs globally, quickly becoming the dominant tool for legally accessing BTC in the US.

The cryptocurrency market in early 2026 is under a lot of pressure such as low volatility, reduced individual investor participation and macroeconomic instability. However, long-term investors take advantage of the adjustment period to accumulate financial products related to strictly regulated cryptocurrencies.

Mr. Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Director of Digital Assets, said that investors holding IBIT mainly have a long-term vision.

The cryptocurrency market started this week in a weak state, as Bitcoin fell below $67,000 per unit yesterday, penetrating last weekend’s fluctuating range of around $68,000-70,000.

This weakening trend coincided with a less positive opening session for US stocks, especially technology and software stocks, which were already under a lot of pressure. Software company stocks are being sold heavily as improved AI tools are seen as a threat to the industry’s business model. Investors are concerned that Bitcoin, which is considered a form of software, will also be subject to similar risks due to the rise of AI.

Mr. Paul Howard, Senior Director at trading company Wincent, said that digital currencies are still closely dependent on macro psychology. According to him, macroeconomic news over the past 12 months is highly correlated with the market’s risk level and the expectation that data will continue to weaken makes investors lean towards risk-off strategies.

In the short term, Howard predicts the market will continue to move sideways as Bitcoin and digital assets search for a new story strong enough to attract capital flows back from AI stocks and commodities. “Cryptocurrencies still need to work to reaffirm their appeal as an asset class and current prices are not enough to do this,” he said.