TradFi firms disclose positions in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF

13F filings are one way to look under the hood of some firms, so to speak. 

The filings are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission for firms with over $100 million in assets under management every quarter.

For the bitcoin ETFs, this is only the second quarter of disclosures, and so far, it looks like more firms have added to their positions. 

All of this, however, comes with the caveat that these positions are somewhat dated. The reports show the listed holdings as of June 30, which is nearly two months ago. 

But, even if they’re slightly dated, they give important insight into who was interested in the bitcoin ETFs and what the appetite looked like as of the end of June. 

Read more: Morgan Stanley’s ETF move a ‘giant step’ for bitcoin adoption

So far we’ve seen bigwigs like Goldman Sachs disclose roughly $400 million of various bitcoin ETFs, and Morgan Stanley’s filing last night not only revealed a hefty position of BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF (5.5 million shares), making it one of the top holders of IBIT. 

Goldman Sachs, to put that in perspective, disclosed roughly 6.9 million shares of IBIT. 

Wisconsin’s pension fund — which had disclosed holdings in both IBIT and Grayscale’s fund last quarter — showed a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to its disclosure. It added to its BlackRock holdings (up to 2.8 million shares from the previously disclosed 2.4 million) but the fund sold out of its Grayscale position. That means, sometime between the two disclosure periods, it sold off over a million shares in GBTC. 

Other disclosures from firms like Cantor Fitzgerlad also show positions in BlackRock’s ETF. 

Unlike last quarter, when pretty much every institutional investment manager was under the microscope for its bitcoin ETF holdings, we’re going to keep this pretty zoomed out. Though a quick search on EDGAR (the SEC database) shows hundreds of filings listing various bitcoin ETF holdings. 

Anyway, Bitwise took a look at the filings and compiled some compelling data points. 

The total filings are on the rise, up 30%, Bitwise’s Matt Hougan noted. He also noted that 44% of filers boosted their holdings as well, though we’ve only highlighted some of the biggest ones so far. 

21% decreased their position, while 13% completely exited (like Wisconsin exiting GBTC). 

“That’s a pretty good result, on par with other ETFs,” Hougan said.

Of those that disclosed holdings, many turned out to be hedge funds. 

“A look at the top holders of most ETFs reveals a lot of major hedge funds: Millennium, Schonfeld, Boothbay, Capula, etc.  But there are a large number of advisors, family offices, and select institutional investors too,” he continued.

A shorter version of this article appeared in Thursday’s Empire newsletter.

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