Table of Contents
Toggle
Wall Street Quant Funds and Macro Hedge Funds Rush into IBIT
Goldman Sachs Significantly Increases Holdings in ETHA
How to Interpret ETF Position Increases
Data shows that Jane Street Group has increased its holdings in the BlackRock Bitcoin Spot ETF (IBIT) by 17 million shares, making it the institution with the highest position growth in the second quarter. Brevan Howard Capital follows closely, increasing its position by 15.9 million shares, highlighting the aggressive positioning of top macro hedge funds in the Bitcoin market. Other entrants include Millennium, IMC, Weiss, Clear Street, and other quantitative and multi-strategy funds, most of which are engaged in providing liquidity or cross-market arbitrage through proprietary positions.
In addition to hedge funds, traditional banks have also made it onto the list. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo all have substantial holdings, mostly sourced from client investment portfolios such as pension funds, family offices, or allocations from high-net-worth clients. This indicates that Bitcoin ETFs are not only attracting trading departments but have also entered institutional wealth management products, beginning to access a broader range of capital sources.
Besides IBIT, BlackRock’s Ether Spot ETF (ETHA) has also attracted significant institutional increases. Among all institutions, Goldman Sachs had the largest position growth in the second quarter, reaching a total of 24,902,219 shares, with a market value exceeding $1.83 billion, accounting for 5.28%. Following closely is the multi-strategy giant Millennium Management, holding 5.8 million shares with a market value nearing $580 million. Quantitative trader Jane Street has also entered the market with 6.8 million shares.
It is important to note that these holdings do not entirely represent institutions being ‘bullish’ on ETH.
Proprietary funds and market makers (such as Jane Street and IMC) may only be engaging in arbitrage or providing liquidity. Asset management and banks (such as JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley) tend to focus on holding assets for clients, with the ultimate beneficiaries being the clients. However, if the products lack demand, these financial giants would not establish such large positions. Therefore, rather than interpreting this as ‘institutional bullishness’, it may be more accurate to say that ‘Bitcoin and Ether have been integrated into financial market infrastructure’, becoming part of asset allocation.