Written by: Huo Huo
The Bitcoin spot ETF was officially approved in early 2024, marking the first year in which traditional financial capital poured into the crypto world. As of June 1, global Bitcoin ETF holdings exceeded 1 million BTC. As of June 14, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs reached approximately US$57.2 billion.
Source: https://sosovalue.xyz
The Bitcoin ETF13F (13F report refers to the shareholding report of investment institutions with assets under management exceeding US$100 million in US stock companies) document submitted to the SEC as of May 15 shows that there are 929 institutions in all declared Bitcoin spot ETF positions in the first quarter of 2024, which accounts for less than 20% of the total market. There are also 80.7% of spot ETF holders whose identities are unknown. The number of institutions holding BTC spot ETFs even exceeds that of gold ETFs, and the amount of assets disclosed has reached one trillion US dollars, which reveals the importance of traditional finance to crypto assets.
Today, based on this document, Plain Language Blockchain will sort out the holdings of the top three hedge funds, investment consulting firms and holding companies in terms of Bitcoin ETF holdings, as well as some well-known institutions.
State government investment funds, banks (over US$100 million)
1) Wisconsin State Government Fund ($100 million)
Wisconsin, the first state government fund in the United States to purchase a Bitcoin spot ETF, submitted a quarterly 13F report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the first state to disclose the purchase of Bitcoin. Information shows that Wisconsin purchased 94,562 shares of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the first quarter of this year, with these shares worth nearly $100 million. The investment committee also purchased shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), worth about $64 million.
The investment board, also known as SWIB, was founded in 1951 and currently manages more than $156 billion in assets, according to its website. It manages assets for the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the State Investment Fund (SIF) and other state trust funds.
2) U.S. Bancorp ($15 million)
US Bancorp is an American bank holding company. It is the parent company of US Bank National Association and the fifth largest bank in the United States, with more than 3,000 branches, mainly in the West and Midwest of the United States. According to the latest 13 F filing, the company's total investment is $71.8 billion.
U.S. Bancorp holds over $15 million worth of spot Bitcoin ETF investments, having purchased approximately 87,744 shares of Fidelity’s FBTC worth $5.4 million, 46,011 shares of Grayscale’s GBTC worth $2.9 million, and 178,567 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT worth $7.2 million.
3) JPMorgan Chase (approximately $1 million)
Founded in 2000, JPMorgan Chase Group is an American financial institution headquartered in New York City. Its commercial banking division has 5,100 branches. In October 2011, JPMorgan Chase's assets surpassed Bank of America to become the largest financial services institution in the United States. JPMorgan Chase's business covers more than 50 countries, including investment banking, securities trading and services, investment management, commercial financial services, private banking services, etc.
JPMorgan currently holds approximately $1 million worth of ProShares BITO, BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, Grayscale GBTC, and Bitwise BITB market shares.
Hedge Funds $4.7 billion
The largest category of Bitcoin spot ETFs is hedge funds, which account for 8.0% of total spot ETF holdings, or about $4.7 billion.
1) Millennium Management: approximately $1.9 billion
Among these large hedge fund buyers, Millennium Management is particularly noteworthy. Millennium Management is a well-known hedge fund founded in 1989 and headquartered in New York City by Israeli-American financier Israel Englander. It is currently one of the largest hedge funds in the world.
The company holds five Bitcoin ETFs with a total value of approximately $1.9 billion. The holdings are as follows:
BlackRock’s IBIT, $844.2 million;
Fidelity’s FBTC, $806.7 million;
Grayscale’s GBTC, $202 million;
Ark’s ARKB $45 million;
Bitwise’s BITB is $44.7 million.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described Millennium as the “king” of Bitcoin ETF holders, noting that the company’s holdings are 200 times larger than the average of the top 500 new ETF holders, and that the market value of these Bitcoin ETF holdings accounts for about 3% of the hedge fund’s assets under management.
2) Schonfeld Strategic Advisors: approximately $480 million
Schonfeld Strategic Advisors is headquartered in New York and was founded by Steven Schonfeld in 1988. Schonfeld started out as a firm focused on proprietary trading and has since evolved into a multi-strategy hedge fund management firm known for its diverse investment strategies and innovative investment approaches, with $13 billion in assets under management.
Schonfeld currently holds a total of $479 million in BTC ETFs, including $248 million in IBIT and $231.8 million in FBTC.
3) Boothbay Fund Management $380 million
Boothbay Fund Management is a New York-based hedge fund management company founded in 2011 by Ari Glass, who serves as president. The company focuses on multi-strategy investments, using a diversified investment approach to achieve stable returns.
Boothbay Fund Management has $377 million invested in spot Bitcoin ETFs, including $149.8 million in IBIT, $105.5 million in FBTC, $69.5 million in GBTC, and $52.3 million in BITB.
In addition to its Bitcoin ETF investments, Boothbay’s portfolio also includes a variety of ETFs, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF.
4) Bracebridge Capital: $340 million
Bracebridge Capital is a hedge fund management company headquartered in Boston, MA, USA, founded in 1994. Its investment portfolio covers a variety of asset classes including global stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, futures, etc. The company is well-known for its focus on global macro investment strategies, unique research methods and in-depth market insights. Its investment decisions are usually based on a deep understanding of the global economy and financial markets, and it is committed to providing excellent asset management services to institutional clients.
Bracebridge Capital currently holds $262 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and $81 million in the BlackRock ETF.
5) Aristeia Capital Llc $163.4 million
Aristeia Capital LLC is a well-known hedge fund and investment management company founded in 1997 and headquartered in the United States. The company focuses on diversified investment strategies, including trading of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments. It is well-known for its excellent performance and strict control of risk management. Its investment strategy focuses on long-term growth and performs well in different market environments. It is committed to providing efficient investment management solutions to global customers.
Currently Aristeia Capital Llc announced that it holds $163.4 million in IBIT investment.
6) Graham Capital Management $98.8 million
Graham Capital Management is a well-known hedge fund management company in the United States. It was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Connecticut. It was founded by the famous investment manager Kenneth Tropin.
As a leading hedge fund management company, Graham Capital Management focuses on applying quantitative and systematic investment strategies to seek absolute returns in different market environments. It manages a large amount of funds globally, and its investment portfolio covers multiple asset classes such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and foreign exchange. In addition to its excellent investment performance, Graham Capital Management is also known for its strict risk management and high sense of responsibility for the interests of its clients.
Graham Capital Management holds $98.8 million in IBIT investments and $3.8 million in FBTC investments.
7) IvyRock Asset Management: $19 million
IvyRock Asset Management is a Hong Kong-based hedge fund management company founded in 2009 that focuses primarily on the Asian market and manages a variety of funds through its asset management business.
IvyRock Asset Management holds nearly $19 million in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT.
Investment consulting firm $3.8 billion
The group of investment advisory firms holds approximately $3.8 billion in total AUM.
1) Horizon Kinetics LLC, $946 million
Among the disclosed investment advisory management companies, Horizon Kinetics LLC holds the largest share. The company is an independent investment advisory company founded in 1994 and headquartered in New York, USA, which manages assets of various investment strategies, including mutual funds, separate accounts and alternative investments.
A distinguishing feature of Horizon Kinetics is its emphasis on non-traditional and less efficient markets. The company often looks for opportunities that are undervalued or misunderstood by the market, such as small-cap stocks, international stocks and niche industries, aiming to benefit from long-term trends and markets. Profit from the shortcomings.
Horizon Kinetics LLC alone holds Grayscale’s GBTC totaling $946 million, ranking first among investment advisory firms and the second largest holder of GBTC (the first is Susquehanna International Group, which will be mentioned later).
2) Morgan Stanley: $270 million
Morgan Stanley is a world-renowned investment bank and wealth management company headquartered in New York, USA. The company was founded in 1935 and originated from the Morgan family, an American financial giant. As one of the world's leading financial service providers, its business scope covers multiple fields, including corporate financing, M&A consulting, securities underwriting, asset management, wealth management and investment banking. It can be said that Morgan Stanley has deep expertise and experience in investment banking, asset management, securities trading, wealth management and other fields.
Morgan Stanley currently holds $269.9 million in Bitcoin ETF investments, all of which are invested in Grayscale's GBTC, making it the third largest holder of GBTC.
3) Pine Ridge Advisers $210 million
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York, Pine Ridge Advisers is a well-known financial advisory firm known for its expertise in wealth management, investment strategies and financial planning. The company's mission is to provide clients with personalized and comprehensive financial solutions, ranging from individual investors to businesses and institutions.
Currently, Pine Ridge Advisers holds a total of $205.8 million in Bitcoin spot ETFs, including $83.2 million in BlackRock's IBIT, $93.4 million in Fidelity's FBTC, and $29.3 million in Bitwise's BITB.
4) ARK Investment Management: $206 million
ARK Investment Management is an investment company founded and led by Cathie Wood. It was established in New York in 2014 and mainly conducts thematic investments based on innovative technologies, such as computer technology, energy innovation, financial technology, etc. Many of the company's funds focus on these themes.
ARK Investment Management holds $206 million in the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF, which is also one of Wood's companies among the first 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs launched. Since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF, ARK Investment Management has been continuously purchasing it, which can be said to be self-produced and self-sold. Perhaps it is calling for "self-purchase" and expanding the scale of the ETF to attract more investors.
5) Ovata Capital Management Ltd ($74 million)
Ovata Capital is a Hong Kong-based investment management firm founded in 2017 that focuses on Asian equities, with investments focused on four core strategy segments: arbitrage, relative value, event-driven and long-short. Ovata’s portfolio manager is Jon Lowry, who previously worked at Millennium Management and Elliott Management Corp. In related news, Ovata’s fund rose 10% last year, outperforming its peers, and is up 5.6% in the first four months of this year.
Currently, Ovata Capital holds Bitcoin ETFs with a total value of more than US$74 million, including FBTC, GBTC, BITB and IBIT (the specific shares have not been disclosed).
6) Hightower Advisors: $68.34 million
Hightower is a well-known investment management company headquartered in Chicago, USA. The company provides a range of wealth management and investment solutions, aiming to provide professional services to individual investors, family offices, wealth management companies and institutional investors. Their clients are mainly high net worth individuals, family funds, charitable organizations and corporate clients.
Hightower holds over $68.34 million worth of U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs, while the company manages a total of $122 billion in funds and currently holds positions in six Bitcoin spot ETFs, including:
$44.84 million of Grayscale GBTC;
$12.41 million in Fidelity FBTC;
BlackRock IBIT at $7.62 million;
$1.7 million ARKB;
Bitwise BITB with $990,000;
$790,000 Franklin EZBC.
7) Rubric Capital Management $60 million
Rubric Capital Management is a US-based investment management company founded in 2008. It focuses on long-term investments in global stock markets and is known for its in-depth research and highly specialized investment approach. Its investment strategy mainly includes fundamental analysis, quantitative analysis and market research. The company's team is committed to discovering companies with potential and long-term growth prospects, and achieving clients' financial goals through portfolio construction and management.
Rubric Capital Management currently owns more than $60 million in the BlackRock Bitcoin Spot ETF.
Holding Company 1.35 billion
Susquehanna International Group $1.1 billion
In the holding company classification, there is actually only one investor that matters, and that is Susquehanna International Group's parent company, SIG Holdings, LLC. SIG for short, translated as Susquehanna International Group.
SIG is an American financial services company headquartered in Bergon, Pennsylvania. It is known for its professionalism and technical performance in the financial market and is considered one of the largest quantitative trading companies in the world. The company was founded in 1987 by Jeff Yass, Arthur Dantchik and Joel Greenberg. SIG operates globally in securities trading, options trading, futures trading, derivatives trading, asset management and private equity investments, with investments totaling approximately $575.9 billion, of which the Bitcoin ETF is only a small part.
SIG holds nine Bitcoin spot ETFs with a total amount of US$1.31 billion, and the largest amount is held by Grayscale's GBTC. It has purchased a total of 17.27 million shares with a value of US$1.09 billion, making it the largest holder of Grayscale GBTC.
Summarize
On January 11, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs to be listed and traded on exchanges for the first time, which was regarded as a milestone event in the digital currency market. The approval of Bitcoin ETF and other cryptocurrency-related ETFs undoubtedly opened the door for traditional investors to enter this emerging market.
Because ETFs listed on exchanges are subject to SEC supervision, investing in Bitcoin through ETFs is less risky than investing directly in Bitcoin. In addition, with the current turbulent international situation and the shadow of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts, Bitcoin spot ETFs are a better investment target for traditional financial institutions.
However, if, as shown in the 13F documents, the disclosed large institutions hold only 20% of the billion-dollar holdings, then who is buying the remaining 80% of the assets? And as a large amount of funds flow into these leading financial products, will it lead to a large amount of funds that would have flowed to the primary and secondary markets being absorbed, which may lead to a lack of attention for new projects? Welcome to leave your comments.
