The second quarter reporting period for 13F filings submitted by institutional investors managing over $100 million in assets in the United States ended on August 14. The announced positions show the status of the institutions' portfolios on June 30, 2026.
Based directly on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) positions, JPMorgan increased by 25.35 percent and UBS increased by approximately 12 percent. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley reduced by 4.54 percent, Goldman Sachs by 4.19 percent and Brevan Howard by 70.36 percent. While Tudor Investment's IBIT position increased by 18.90 percent, the number of shares of Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala remained unchanged.
Buying Bitcoin and Ether ETFs from JPMorgan
JPMorgan's IBIT position increased from 8 million 302 thousand 691 shares in the first quarter to 10 million 407 thousand 635 shares. Thus, a 25.35 percent increase was recorded in the bank's position on a quarterly basis.
When other spot Bitcoin ETFs are taken into account, the total number of shares reported by JPMorgan increased from 8 million 462 thousand to 10 million 623 thousand. While the bank's IBIT call option position increased from 3 million 775 thousand shares to 3 million 945 thousand shares in return for the underlying asset, its put option position decreased from 4 million 756 thousand shares to 3 million 495 thousand shares.
338 percent increase in ETH position
JPMorgan's increase on the Ether side was much higher. While the bank's position in the BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) reached approximately 1 million 170 thousand shares, the quarterly increase was calculated as 338 percent. The value of the position on June 30 was approximately $14.3 million.
Call options on UBS increased more than 24 times
The direct IBIT position of Swiss bank UBS increased from 364 thousand 371 shares to 407 thousand 890 shares. The value of the position, which increased by approximately 12 percent, at the end of the quarter was reported as 13.6 million dollars.
The most striking change was seen in options. UBS's IBIT call options increased from 80 thousand to 1 million 950 thousand in return for the underlying share. Thus, the position increased more than 24 times.
In the same period, the underlying share value of put options decreased from 303 thousand 300 to 143 thousand 300. The decrease here was approximately 53 percent. However, it was not stated in the file whether the options were held on behalf of customers, within the scope of market making or hedging transactions, or for the bank's own account.
Morgan Stanley cuts IBIT, announces its own Bitcoin product
Morgan Stanley's IBIT position decreased from 17 million 263 thousand 778 shares in the first quarter to 16 million 480 thousand 435 shares. Thus, based on the corrected first quarter reporting, there was a 4.54 percent decrease in the bank's IBIT shares. The value of the position on June 30 was recorded as 548.6 million dollars.
The total number of shares in Morgan Stanley's spot Bitcoin ETFs issued by third parties also decreased by 3.99 percent to 18 million 636 thousand.
On the other hand, in the bank's second quarter file, 2 million 570 thousand 627 shares of its own product Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), which was opened for transactions in April, were included for the first time. When external ETFs and MSBT are evaluated together, the total number of shares of Bitcoin-related products reported by the bank appears to be 9.25 percent higher than in the first quarter.
However, the filings do not prove that reduced positions in outside ETFs were transferred to MSBT. What can only be inferred from the filings is that external ETF allocations have decreased and Morgan Stanley's own Bitcoin product has been reported for the first time.
Change of direction among ETH products at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs' IBIT position decreased from 17 million 985 thousand 51 shares to 17 million 232 thousand 201 shares. After a 4.19 percent decrease, the value of the position at the end of the quarter was 573.7 million dollars.
The bank also reduced its position in ETHA, BlackRock's non-staking-free Ether product, by 8.09 percent. While Goldman's ETHA shares decreased from 7 million 213 thousand 902 to 6 million 630 thousand 550, the value of the position was reported as 78.8 million dollars.
In response, Goldman Sachs increased its position in BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), which also provides staking returns, by 103.23 percent. The bank's ETHB shares increased from 2 million 480 thousand to 5 million 40 thousand, and the value of the position increased to 102.3 million dollars.
This table indicates that Goldman Sachs has shifted the weight of its portfolio to staking-enabled products, rather than completely exiting Ether-related products.
Tudor Investment bought, reduced its options
Tudor Investment, managed by Paul Tudor Jones, increased its direct IBIT position by 18.90 percent. While the number of shares owned by the fund increased from 579 thousand 83 to 688 thousand 529, the value of the position at the end of the quarter was 22.9 million dollars.
In contrast, Tudor's IBIT call options decreased from 998 thousand to 148 thousand against the underlying share. The decrease in this item was 85.17 percent. Put options decreased by 1.38 percent, from 725 thousand to 715 thousand.
So even though Tudor increased its direct ETF holdings, it significantly shrank its call option position.
Brevan Howard cut 70 percent of his direct position
One of the hardest sales of the second quarter came from Brevan Howard. The company's direct IBIT position decreased from 24 million 304 thousand 788 shares to 7 million 205 thousand 4 shares. Thus, the decrease in the number of shares reached 70.36 percent. The value of the remaining position on June 30 was approximately $240 million.
Brevan Howard's file also included a call option for 7 million 230 thousand underlying shares and a put option for 5 million 273 thousand 700 underlying shares. These two option items were not included in the company's first quarter statement.
Therefore, it may not be correct to consider the change in Brevan Howard as only an exit from the crypto position. It appears that some of the position has been moved to a more complex option structure, while direct ETF allocations have been drastically reduced.
Mubadala did not change its position
Abu Dhabi-based state investment company Mubadala did not make any changes in the 14 million 721 thousand 917 IBIT shares it owns.
Although the market value of the position decreased from 565.6 million dollars at the end of the first quarter to 490.1 million dollars, this decrease was not due to the sale, but to the change in the IBIT price between the end of the two quarters.
Abu Dhabi Investment Council also maintained its IBIT position of 8 million 218 thousand 712 shares. Thus, Abu Dhabi's two largest institutional investors did not change their shareholdings in the second quarter.
13F data does not mean banks buy Bitcoin directly
13F files have significant limitations. Since notifications can be submitted up to 45 days after the end of the relevant quarter, they show the situation as of June 30, not real-time positions.
Additionally, ETFs seen in banks' files; It can include accounts managed on behalf of customers, pension funds, investment funds, market making positions, hedging transactions or institutions' own investments under the same roof. For this reason, it cannot be directly concluded from the data that "The bank bought Bitcoin for its own balance sheet."
The figures reported in the options do not show the number of contracts or ETF shares directly owned, but the underlying share equivalent represented by the options. Since short positions and written options do not appear in their entirety in the 13F table, the files alone do not reveal the institutions' net directional crypto position.
