The US Bitcoin spot ETF was officially launched on January 11th this year and has brought in $12.4 billion in capital inflows to the market. Who are these investors? Are they retail investors or have institutional investors also entered the market? According to the 13F reports compiled by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the institutional holdings of BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC currently account for only 0.2%, which is far from the 42% of the Bitcoin futures ETF BITO. Are institutional investors still testing the waters?
Form 13F is a quarterly report required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for investment institutions or advisors with assets under management exceeding $100 million. It must be submitted within 45 days after the end of each quarter. Since the US Bitcoin spot ETF was officially launched on January 11th this year, the first 13F report will cover until the end of March and will be published by mid-May.
According to the latest statistics from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, there are approximately 30 institutions that have purchased BlackRock’s IBIT, mainly funds and advisory companies. The largest percentage holder is Brookstone Capital Management, accounting for 0.04% of IBIT, while these institutions collectively only hold 0.2% of IBIT shares.
As for Fidelity’s FBTC, there are currently 11 institutional holders, also accounting for 0.2% of the shares. One of them is Baldwin Brothers Inc, a professional performing family in the United States. Balchunas speculates that the transactions may be led by Stephen Andrew Baldwin, who has played roles in “The Usual Suspects” and “The Young Riders.”
Since the 13F report deadline is in mid-May, it means that there may be many institutions not included in this statistics. However, Balchunas speculates that this also means that the Bitcoin spot ETF is actually held by many retail investors.