Complete list of 1000 Bitcoin spot ETF buyers: total investment scale exceeds 11.5 billion USD, with hedge funds accounting for the majority

Author: Nianqing, ChainCatcher

After the deadline for submitting the first quarter 13F report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 15, approximately 1,000 institutions hold about $11.55 billion in Bitcoin spot ETFs.

The level of institutional investment in Bitcoin ETFs varies, with 18 institutions holding related assets exceeding $100 million, 102 institutions holding related assets exceeding $10 million, and 371 institutions holding related assets exceeding $1 million. The vast majority of institutions hold BTC ETF assets that account for only a small portion of their total assets under management.

The 18 institutions holding related assets exceeding $100 million are mostly well-known hedge funds and asset management companies, such as Millennium Management, Jane Street Group, and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors. Similarly, large institutions' investments in crypto assets account for only a small portion of their total assets under management.

Moreover, although the 13F filings have become an important barometer in the investment community, the fact that these institutions hold spot Bitcoin ETFs does not necessarily indicate a bullish outlook on Bitcoin. For high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies are merely volatile assets, and most institutions purchase Bitcoin for speculative trading strategies, not necessarily because they endorse any fundamental value of Bitcoin. Does this mean that after the formal approval of the BTC spot ETF in the U.S. this January, the market still lacks long-term holders of Bitcoin?

Overall, as of the first quarter, the asset size of the spot BTC ETF has exceeded $11 billion, making it the most successful ETF issuance in history. BTC ETF has elevated Bitcoin to a recognized financial asset and opened avenues for professional investors, hedge funds, family offices, and institutions to participate in Bitcoin investment. Institutional interest in BTC ETFs is growing increasingly strong.

About 13F Filings

The full name of 13F is SEC Form 13F. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires investment institutions or advisors with assets under management exceeding $100 million to submit a quarterly report within 45 days after the end of each quarter, disclosing their holdings in common stocks (including ETFs), options, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), convertible bonds, etc., and providing detailed information based on the type of securities, stock names and quantities, total market value, etc.

Institutions must submit their 13F filings to the SEC within 45 days after the end of the calendar year quarter, typically by February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15 each year (if the deadline falls on a holiday, it is moved to the next business day). After submission, the reports will be made public in the SEC's database (EDGAR). Most institutions tend to wait until the last moment to submit, in order to conceal their investment strategies from competitors. The Q2 13F filing data is of greater interest to the crypto market, and ChainCatcher will continue to monitor it.

In this article, ChainCatcher has compiled a complete list of institutions ranked by investment amount based on the list of BTC ETF holders published in the 13F filings by ccn.com. Let's first take a look at the top ten institutions holding the most spot BTC ETFs------

Top Ten Institutions Holding the Most Spot BTC ETFs

1. Millennium Management

Keywords: Hedge Fund

Millennium Management is a global investment firm founded by Israel Englander in 1989. The company is known for its multi-strategy hedge funds. As of the first quarter of this year, Millennium has invested approximately $2 billion in several ETFs, including BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and funds launched by Bitwise Investments and ARK Investment Management. The total asset size at the end of Q1 was $234 billion, with crypto investments accounting for less than one percent.

2. Susquehanna International Group (SIG)

Keywords: Market Maker, Asset Management, Venture Capital

SIG was founded in 1987 and covers securities investment, trading, financial services, etc. Its most well-known expertise is in pricing and trading financial derivatives (especially stock options). It is also the designated market maker for about 600 stock options and 45 index options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, American Stock Exchange, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and International Securities Exchange, responsible for major stocks including Google, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, General Electric, PepsiCo, and Microsoft. SIG owns about 15% of ByteDance.

Despite SIG investing $1.326 billion in BTC ETFs, this investment only accounts for a small portion of its portfolio, with the company's asset management size at the end of Q1 being $576 billion, and crypto investments accounting for only 0.2%.

3. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management

Keywords: Hedge Fund, Asset Management

Horizon Kinetics was established in May 2011, resulting from the merger of Horizon Asset Management, founded in 1994, and Kinetics Asset Management, founded in 1996. As early as 2016, Horizon Kinetics allocated 1% of its shares to invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, ranking fifth in its holdings of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares in 2020. The company also launched a "Blockchain Development ETF," primarily investing in publicly listed blockchain development companies' stock securities, ADRs, and global depositary receipts.

The company's asset management size at the end of Q1 was $5.3 billion, with an investment of $946 million in BTC ETFs accounting for 17.8%.

4. Jane Street Group

Keywords: Hedge Fund, Market Maker

Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm and liquidity provider, with several founders in the crypto space, including SBF, having come from Jane Street. Although Jane Street announced a reduction in its crypto business after the tightening of U.S. policies following the FTX incident last May, it has continued to provide market-making services for the crypto industry. Jane Street Capital is still investing in the crypto space. Additionally, Jane Street is an authorized dealer for the Bitcoin spot ETFs of Grayscale, Fidelity, and WisdomTree.

The company's asset management size at the end of Q1 was $478 billion, with an investment of $634 million in BTC ETFs accounting for only one-thousandth.

5. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors

Keywords: Hedge Fund

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors is a New York-based hedge fund founded in 2015. The predecessor of Schonfeld's consulting business was a family office run by Mr. Steven Schonfeld. In the first quarter, Schonfeld invested $248 million in IBIT and $231.8 million in FBTC, totaling $479 million.

The company's asset management size at the end of Q1 was $15 billion, with an investment of $480 million in BTC ETFs accounting for 3.2%.

6. Bracebridge Capital

Keywords: Hedge Fund

Bracebridge Capital is a hedge fund based in Boston, USA. Founded in 1994, it manages funds for the endowments of Yale University and Princeton University.

Bracebridge Capital has made significant purchases of Bitcoin spot ETFs this year, including $300 million in Ark 21Shares' ARKB and $100 million in BlackRock's IBIT, as well as $26.52 million in Grayscale's GBTC, accounting for 86% of its total assets. The ARKB shares it purchased accounted for 9.94% of the total outstanding shares, even higher than the 6.68% held by Ark itself.

7. Boothbay Fund Management

Keywords: Hedge Fund

Boothbay Fund Management is an institutional investment company based in New York City, founded at the end of 2011 and operated by renowned fund manager Ari Glass, managing two global multi-strategy multi-manager funds. Boothbay Fund Management has been investing in cryptocurrencies since 2013.

Boothbay Fund Management disclosed an investment of $377 million in spot BTC ETFs, including $149.8 million in IBIT, $105.5 million in FBTC, $69.5 million in GBTC, and $52.3 million in BITB. Its asset management size for Q1 was $5.2 billion.

8. Morgan Stanley

Keywords: Hedge Fund, Asset Management

Morgan Stanley is an international financial services company established in New York, providing financial services including securities, asset management, mergers and acquisitions, and credit cards. As of March 31, Morgan Stanley held nearly $270 million in GBTC. Shortly after the approval of the BTC spot ETF in January, it opened up related ETF allocations to clients, so the related investments are likely made on behalf of clients rather than the bank's own bet on Bitcoin.

Its asset management size for Q1 reached $12 trillion, with crypto investments accounting for a very small portion.

9. ARK Investment Management

Keywords: Investment Fund, Asset Management

ARK Invest is an asset management company based in New York, founded by "Cathie Wood" in 2014. The asset size held in Q1 was approximately $14 billion, with the most held stocks being COIN (Coinbase) and TSLA (Tesla).

In January of this year, 21Shares and ARK Invest officially launched a Bitcoin spot ETF. Shortly after the issuance of the related ETF, one of Ark Investment's ETF products, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, sold its position worth $16 million in the Bitcoin futures ETF—ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, to purchase 365,427 shares of the Ark Investment-issued ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF. After buying this ETF, the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF currently accounts for about 1% of ARKW's total position.

10. Pine Ridge Advisers

Keywords: Investment Advisor

Pine Ridge Advisers is an investment advisory firm established in 2014 in the U.S. Its current asset management size is $855 million, with $205 million in IBIT, FBTC, and BITB, accounting for 23% of its total management size. Analysts suggest that Pine Ridge Advisers may be considering arbitrage trading rather than allocating a quarter of clients' portfolios to Bitcoin like some other investment advisors.

List of Spot BTC ETF Buyers (Investment Amount Exceeding $1 Million)