As of March 31, 2024, a total of 937 professional firms in the US invested in spot Bitcoin ETFs. Bitcoin continues to reach new levels of adoption in the real world as traditional finance (TradFi) firms rapidly embrace the crypto asset. Significant investments in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) indicate growing institutional interest in crypto assets.
High Interest in Bitcoin ETF Funds
In the last quarter, a surprising number of US banks, investment managers, hedge funds, and professional firms purchased spot Bitcoin ETF funds, as seen in their 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A tweet from the crypto asset investment analysis platform K33 Research revealed that as of March 31, 937 professional firms in the US had invested in the spot Bitcoin ETF market. Therefore, it may be challenging to know and list every TradFi firm investing in Bitcoin.
Some of the largest Bitcoin ETF investments came from the heavy hedge fund Millennium Management and the global quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG). The firms reported investments of $2 billion and $1 billion in Bitcoin products, respectively.
Following Millennium Management and SIG’s investments were Bracebridge Capital, a Boston-based hedge fund managing money for top universities like Yale and Princeton, and Boothbay Fund, another New York-based fund manager. The institutions purchased ETFs worth $434 million and $377 million, respectively.
What’s Happening in the ETF Sector?
Significant ETF announcements also came from the leading US banking company Morgan Stanley and the advisory firm Pine Ridge Advisers, with investments of $269 million and $205.8 million, respectively. Additionally, alternative asset manager Aristeia Capital, investment firm Graham Capital, and hedge fund manager Crcm LP reported significant stakes in Bitcoin ETF funds, with investments of $163.4 million, $102.6 million, and $96.6 million, respectively.
Many other professional firms announced smaller investments in the Bitcoin ETF market. Among them were Hightower Advisors with $68 million, Fortress Investment Group with $53.6 million, Cambridge Investment Research with $40 million, Sequoia Financial Advisors with $12 million, Integrated Advisors with $11 billion, and Brown Advisory with $4 million.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo’s smaller investments of $760,000 and $143,000 in the Bitcoin ETF market are noteworthy. It is also worth mentioning that most of these firms spread their investments across various ETF funds, with Grayscale’s GBTC, BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Ark Invest’s ARKB seeing the largest allocations.
