17th August 2025 > > Norway & the Fed.

tl;dr

We can only look on with sadness and regret at what the Norwegians are showing us what should have been. The Federal Reserve has (finally) read the memo.

Market Snap 

Market Wrap

Galaxy Digital CEO, Mike Novogratz, said in a podcast last week:

“People who cheer for the million-dollar Bitcoin price next year, I was like, Guys, it only gets there if we’re in such a shitty place domestically.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d take it.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Norway’s sovereign wealth fund

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is a monster, valued at $1.9 TRILLION at the end of June 2025, equivalent to $340k per citizen. After adjusting for government debt of $250bn, the net value per citizen is just shy of $300k, which is a nice position to be in. The fund was created from the taxes accumulated from North Sea oil, a splendid long-term decision that has paid off in style.

This is in stark contrast to, say, oh I don’t know, another country chosen at random that shared in the spoils of North Sea oil, the UK. The UK made the decision to spend the taxes accumulated from North Sea oil as fast as it possibly could. The value of the UK’s sovereign wealth fund is … checks notes … ah, we don’t have one. With government debt standing at $2.9 TRILLION (not including many trillions more of unfunded public sector pension liabilities), the net position of minus £42k, approximately $57k, per person demonstrates the utter folly of the mindset of politicians of all stripes.

…

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has been furiously buying Strategy, and to a lesser extent Metaplanet, as a proxy for owning BTC. In the last quarter alone, its exposure jumped a rather eye-catching 83%, to over $1.3bn.

The most exciting part is that this represents just 0.07% of the assets of the wealth fund. If, over time, that figure grows to the bottom end of my predicted range of 3% to 5% of all investment monies flowing into cryptos, that implies that the fund will invest a further $56bn into the crypto sector. Perhaps next quarter, we will see direct buying of BTC via the spot BTC ETFs rather than Strategy, but in either case, this is all new demand for BTC, with a very predictable outcome.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Now the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve has withdrawn a special program initiated in 2023 that monitored bank’s activities with regard to “deposits, payments, and lending to crypto-asset-related entities and fintechs.” As one of the key planks of Operation Choke Point 2.0, the purpose of this program was to stop banks even considering providing banking services to crypto entrepreneurs.

In a welcome change of heart, it seems even the Fed, under the non-leadership of the hapless Jerome never knowingly right Powell, understands the direction of travel:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20250815a1.pdf

One by one, the barriers previously erected in a forlorn attempt to prevent the crypto revolution are being torn down and tossed aside.ed for work on a morning.