Who is buying Bitcoin spot ETFs?
As of May 7, the total assets under management for Bitcoin spot ETFs amounted to $52 billion, with $11.7 billion in inflows as of May 6.Reporter: Wu Tianyi
Produced by: DeThings
On May 7, according to The Block, Monolith Management, an investment firm under former Sequoia China partner Cao Xi, revealed in a document that it holds over $24 million in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker: IBIT). This Hong Kong-based company ranks fifth in terms of holdings in the BlackRock ETF, which is more than double its position in Meta stock. Additionally, the company's two largest investments are in Nvidia and Microsoft.
Currently, asset management firms from the U.S., Hong Kong, Europe, and other regions are entering the Bitcoin ETF market.
According to watcher.guru, a Hong Kong-based asset management company has purchased $112 million worth of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Specifically, data shows that Yong Rong Asset Management Limited purchased $38 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Similarly, documents from Ovata Capital Management, also based in Hong Kong, indicate that its investments in four other spot Bitcoin ETFs exceed $74 million.
The documents show that Yong Rong Asset Management and Ovata Capital Management have made notable investments in U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. The former purchased $38 million worth of IBIT from BlackRock, which accounts for 12% of its holdings according to undisclosed documents.
Additionally, Ovata holds four spot Bitcoin ETFs valued at $74 million. These four investment products are from issuers Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, and BlackRock.
Another Hong Kong-based fund, IvyRock Asset Management, reported on Tuesday that it holds nearly $19 million in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF.
It is worth mentioning that these Hong Kong companies began investing in U.S. Bitcoin ETFs after the approval of virtual asset ETFs in Hong Kong.
Moreover, the presence of "Old Money" from Europe has begun to appear in Bitcoin ETF trading.
According to CryptoSlate, French banking giant BNP Paribas has revealed that it has started purchasing shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and currently holds a small Bitcoin exposure through the ETF. By assets, the bank is the second largest in Europe and, as of 2022, the ninth largest bank globally.
The bank's latest 13F filing (dated May 1) shows that it holds 1,030 shares of IBIT, valued at $41,684.
BNP Paribas's investment in IBIT is only a small part of its total investments, which the latest filing reports to be $113.8 billion.
In the U.S., according to CryptoSlate, quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group is one of the largest companies investing in spot Bitcoin ETFs today, holding a total of $1.3 billion in Bitcoin ETFs to date. The company describes itself as one of the largest proprietary trading firms globally, with an estimated $481 billion in assets under management (AUM).
Its filings with the SEC disclosed investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs, including 17.3 million shares of Grayscale's GBTC through three separate investments, totaling $1.1 billion. Susquehanna also purchased 1.3 million shares of Fidelity FBTC, valued at $83.7 million, 583,049 shares of BlackRock IBIT, valued at $23.6 million, 560,832 shares of Bitwise BITB, valued at $21.7 million, and 508,824 shares of Ark 21Shares ARKB, valued at $36.1 million. Additionally, it bought 256,354 shares of VanEck HODL, valued at $20.6 million, 255,814 shares of WisdomTree BTCW, valued at $19.3 million, 166,200 shares of Invesco BTCO, valued at $11.8 million, and 192,391 shares of Valkyrie BRRR, valued at $3.9 million. These combined investments represent only a small portion of the company's latest 13F report, which totals $575.9 billion in investments.
Hightower Advisors and SouthState Bank, BNP Paribas, and Burkett Financial Services reported similar spot Bitcoin ETF investments in their 13F filings. Legacy Wealth Asset Management and other companies also reported investments.
Bloomberg ETF senior analyst Eric Balchunas stated that institutional investors have been purchasing Bitcoin ETFs, with Legacy Wealth Asset Management and United Capital Management of Kansas Inc. investing slightly over $20 million in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), representing 6% and 5% of their portfolios, respectively.
Members from BlackRock and Bitwise predict that institutions will continue to invest in spot Bitcoin ETFs, a trend supported by the latest disclosures.
The 13F filings for this quarter only disclose purchases made before March 31, meaning that recent purchases may still be undisclosed.
Additionally, CNBC noted that the highly active market surrounding these funds may indicate that retail traders are leveraging ETFs to participate in the Bitcoin rise, with high intraday trading volumes suggesting that retail traders constitute a significant group buying and selling the funds.
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's head of digital assets, stated in a May 2 statement to Coindesk that financial institutions, including pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, asset management firms, and family offices, may begin investing in spot Bitcoin ETFs.
However, some institutions are not interested in Bitcoin ETFs. According to CoinDesk, one of the world's largest asset management firms, Vanguard Group, will not allow clients to purchase newly approved Bitcoin ETFs. "Spot Bitcoin ETFs will not be purchasable on the Vanguard platform, and there are no plans to offer a Vanguard Bitcoin ETF or other crypto-related products," a Vanguard spokesperson stated, explaining that the decision is based on the fact that crypto-related products do not align with the asset management company's focus on "building balanced long-term investment portfolios."
As of May 7, the total assets managed by spot Bitcoin ETFs amount to $52 billion, with $11.7 billion in inflows as of May 6.
