Major Banks Increase Bitcoin ETF Exposure as Barclays Expands BlackRock Holdings by 48%
As of Sept. 30, Barclays held a $187 million position, and Citigroup revealed a fresh $119 million investment in Fidelity's Bitcoin ETF.
According to recent filings, Barclays disclosed ownership of 3.94 million shares in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as the third quarter concluded, representing a 48% increase compared to the preceding quarter.
The bank's stake in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) reached approximately $187 million as of Sept. 30, climbing from $88.5 million for 2.66 million shares recorded on June 30, based on Barclays' Form 13F submission filed on Friday.
"Early readings suggest longer-term holders make up a growing share of the spot bitcoin ETF investor base," Bitwise analyst Camran Khosravi told Cointelegraph, pointing to increased bank exposure, including at Citigroup.
Meanwhile, Citigroup unveiled a fresh position valued at approximately $119 million in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC). The bank's disclosed IBIT holdings similarly climbed 50% to roughly 521,000 shares, compared to 347,000 at the conclusion of June.
These regulatory filings provide an initial glimpse into evolving institutional Bitcoin ETF ownership patterns, with numerous major banks and hedge funds still to reveal their third-quarter positions. Institutional investment managers face a Monday deadline to submit their third-quarter holdings reports.
Banks gain ground among Bitcoin ETF holders
Among early third-quarter filers, banks represented $258 million, equivalent to 4.9%, of disclosed spot Bitcoin ETF holdings, rising from $107 million, or 3.2%, in Q2, based on Bitwise data provided to Cointelegraph.
Investment advisers continued to dominate as the largest holders, representing $3.5 billion, or 66.6%, of disclosed positions, increasing from $2.2 billion in the prior quarter. Bitwise analyzed holdings across both quarters for the 1,389 institutions that had submitted their third-quarter reports by Friday. The aggregate value of their combined spot Bitcoin ETF holdings climbed to $5.25 billion from $3.35 billion.
According to Khosravi, financial advisers at prominent banks and wealth platforms now have the ability to recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients, a trend he anticipates will become progressively more apparent in institutional filings throughout upcoming quarters.
These numbers remain preliminary in nature, with significant holders including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and hedge funds Millennium and Schonfeld yet to disclose their positions before the approaching deadline.
Price gains lift the value of Bitcoin ETF holdings
Increased Bitcoin ETF valuations don't automatically indicate new institutional purchasing activity, according to Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at PrimeXBT.
"It's important to look at the holdings in shares and not just the increase in dollar amount," Randin told Cointelegraph, noting that IBIT gained about 41% in price in Q3.
In a separate development, an October CoinShares survey revealed that diversification represented 40% of responses regarding why investors maintained digital assets, compared with less than 9% for speculation.
Randin issued a warning that the filings reflect holdings as of Sept. 30, prior to Bitcoin's later decline and outflows from spot ETFs. US spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulated approximately $6.34 billion in net inflows throughout the third quarter, succeeded by roughly $2.1 billion in net outflows in Q4 through Tuesday, based on SoSoValue data.