The U.S. Bitcoin Spot ETF was officially launched on January 11 this year and has brought $12.4 billion in capital inflows to the market so far. Who are these investors? Retail investors? Or are institutional investors actually entering the market? According to the 13F report compiled by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, only 0.2% of institutions are currently investing in BlackRock IBIT and Fidelity FBTC, which is far from the 42% of Bitcoin futures ETF BITO. Are institutional investors still testing the water temperature?
Updated look at the holders of $IBIT, there's about 30 of them so far (mostly funds and advisors) accounting for 0.2% of shares out which means this is tippy tip of iceberg (context: BITO has 42% of shares reported via 13F). Also shows lot of "nibbling" going on as evidenced by… pic.twitter.com/X7AMCw5CR3
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 16, 2024
The 13F report (Form 13F) is a quarterly report stipulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that investment institutions or advisors with assets under management exceeding $100 million must submit within 45 days after the end of each quarter. Since the U.S. Bitcoin Spot ETF was officially launched on January 11 this year, the first 13F report will be collected until the end of March and published before mid-May.
According to the latest statistics from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, so far about 30 institutions, mainly funds and consulting firms, have bought BlackRock’s IBIT. The largest proportion is Brookstone Capital Management, accounting for 0.04% of IBIT. The total of these institutions only accounts for 0.2% of IBIT shares.
There are currently 11 institutional holders of Fidelity's FBTC, accounting for only 0.2% of the shares. One of them is Baldwin Brothers Inc. It is an American professional acting family. Balchunas speculates that it is Stephen, who once played the role of The Outlaws and The Young Boys. Andrew Baldwin led the deal.
If it is those Baldwin Brothers my guess is Stephen is the PM pic.twitter.com/wrFHQ8B1qa
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 16, 2024
Because the 13F reporting deadline is mid-May, there may be many institutions not included in this count. However, Balchunas speculates that this also means that the Bitcoin spot ETF is actually held by many retail investors.
This article Institutional investors have not made a big move into Bitcoin, the 13F report reveals that only 30 fund investment advisors bought IBIT first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.