The recent 13F Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) filing for end of Q3 revealed that hedge funds such as Millennium Management, Capula Management, and Tudor Investment boosted their exposure to U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The 13F filing is a mandatory quarterly report for institutional investment managers that handle assets worth more than $100 million.
The biggest increase in its exposure to bitcoin was Millennium Management. Its holdings in Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) more than doubled from the previous quarter to 23.5 million shares, valued at $849 million. Additionally, it grew its holdings in Bitwise bitcoin and Ark 21shares bitcoin funds. At the end of September, the hedge fund had $1.7 billion in ETFs, including spot bitcoin and ethereum funds.
According to the SEC filing, macro hedge firm Capula Management also increased its holdings in Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin and Ishares Bitcoin Trust to approximately $600 million.
Tudor Investment, the hedge fund run by Paul Tudor Jones increased its holdings of Ishares Bitcoin Trust fund by five times from 869,565 shares to 4.4 million shares.
With spot bitcoin ETFs up by about 35% in Q4 already, hedge funds and institutional investors are strongly inclined to maintain and increase their bitcoin investments. In addition, the prospects of a pro-crypto U.S. government also serves as an incentive for more investments in bitcoin.
The growing trend of institutional interest in bitcoin ETFs is consistent with the increase in ownership. Institutional investors are drawn to these funds because they offer a regulated product that exposes investors to bitcoin. The largest asset manager in the world, Blackrock has been instrumental in encouraging institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies by offering investors a more conventional means of obtaining bitcoin through its Ishares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
