Barclays boosts BlackRock Bitcoin ETF stake 48% as banks expand holdings

Barclays reported holding 3.94 million shares in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) at the end of the third quarter, up 48% from the previous quarter.

The position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) was worth about $187 million on Sept. 30, up from $88.5 million for 2.66 million shares on June 30, according to Barclays’ Friday Form 13F filing.

“Early readings suggest longer-term holders make up a growing share of the spot bitcoin ETF investor base,” Bitwise analyst Camran Khosravi told Cointelegraph, pointing to increased bank exposure, including at Citigroup.

Citigroup reported a new position worth about $119 million in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC). Its reported IBIT holdings also rose 50% to about 521,000 shares, from 347,000 at the end of June.

The filings offer an early indication of changing institutional Bitcoin ETF ownership, with more major banks and hedge funds yet to disclose their third-quarter positions. Institutional investment managers have until Monday to file their third-quarter holdings reports.

Banks accounted for $258 million, or 4.9%, of reported spot Bitcoin ETF holdings among early third-quarter filers, up from $107 million, or 3.2%, in Q2, according to Bitwise data shared with Cointelegraph.

Investment advisers remained the largest holders, accounting for $3.5 billion, or 66.6%, of reported positions, up from $2.2 billion in the previous quarter. Bitwise compared holdings across the two quarters for the 1,389 institutions that had filed their third-quarter reports by Friday. The value of their combined spot Bitcoin ETF holdings rose to $5.25 billion from $3.35 billion.

Khosravi said financial advisers at major banks and wealth platforms can now recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients, a development he expects to become increasingly visible in institutional filings over the coming quarters.

The figures remain preliminary, with major holders including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and hedge funds Millennium and Schonfeld yet to report their positions ahead of the upcoming deadline.

Rising Bitcoin ETF valuations do not necessarily reflect fresh institutional buying, according to Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at PrimeXBT.

“It’s important to look at the holdings in shares and not just the increase in dollar amount,” Randin told Cointelegraph, noting that IBIT gained about 41% in price in Q3.

Separately, an October CoinShares survey found that diversification accounted for 40% of responses on why investors held digital assets, compared with less than 9% for speculation.

Randin cautioned that the filings capture holdings as of Sept. 30, before Bitcoin’s subsequent decline and outflows from spot ETFs. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $6.34 billion in net inflows during the third quarter, followed by roughly $2.1 billion in net outflows in Q4 through Tuesday, according to SoSoValue data.