Large Banks and Investment Funds Increasingly Buy Bitcoin

International hedge fund Millennium Management has revealed that it holds nearly two billion dollars in spot bitcoin ETFs as of the first quarter of 2024.

Millennium held a total of 1.94 billion dollars in five bitcoin ETFs as of March 31, according to a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The hedge fund diversified its investments in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, iShares Bitcoin Trust, and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF.

BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF represents the largest allocation for Millennium, with over 844 million dollars invested. Fidelity’s fund took second place with just over 806 million dollars worth of shares held by the hedge fund.

Describing Millennium as the ‘king’ of bitcoin ETF owners, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the firm has 200 times more exposure than the average new ETF holders in the top 500. Additionally, the majority, about 60 percent, of new bitcoin ETF buyers were investment advisory firms, while around 25 percent were hedge funds, Balchunas shared.

A recent surge of mandatory 13F filings shed light on who is buying bitcoin ETFs, something that Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, says has increasingly encouraged him about the future of bitcoin. In a memo to investors dated May 13, Hougan wrote that the quarterly 13F filings revealed important details about who is buying ETFs, adding that the large scope of institutional interest in the products is a good sign for bitcoin’s progress.

– The big news is that many professional investors own bitcoin ETFs – wrote Hougan, drawing special attention to the presence of firms such as Hightower Advisors, Bracebridge Capital, and Cambridge Investment Research.

– By the filing deadline of May 15, I assume we could end up with over 700 professional firms and total AUM approaching 5 billion dollars – added Hougan.

In Bitcoin Invested Wisconsin

The state of Wisconsin announced on May 14 that the state pension fund invested 164 million dollars in two bitcoin ETFs offered by Grayscale and BlackRock.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, the Investment Board of the state of Wisconsin reported investments in spot bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Grayscale.

According to the SWIB 13F form for the first quarter of 2024, the 156 billion dollar pension fund purchased 64 million dollars worth of Grayscale’s GBTC and 99.2 million dollars worth of BlackRock’s IBIT, with a total investment in bitcoin of just over 163 million dollars.

Will Other States Follow Suit?

Yesterday, macroeconomic analyst Macro Scope suggested that other states will begin to follow suit now that investments in bitcoin can be easily accessed through regulator-approved spot ETFs.

– Every state is doing this math right now. And yesterday’s announcement from Wisconsin will now become part of those discussions – he wrote.

The comments come in response to New Hampshire House member Keith Ammon, who earlier this week praised the virtues of bitcoin investment.

Ammon asked on May 13 whether the state of New Hampshire should explore allocating a small percentage of its reserves to a bitcoin ETF. He added that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if the state of New Hampshire had only put five percent of its 2016 ‘rainy day fund’ into bitcoin and held it, that investment would now be worth nearly half a billion dollars. Ammon, who commented on the devaluation of the dollar on May 16, continued to say that New Hampshire has unfunded obligations to the state pension system of 1.25 billion dollars, questioning how they can get out of that hole.

– The answer may be staring us in the face and is worth further investigation – Ammon stated.

Chain Reaction

In a separate post on X, Macro Scope stated that Wisconsin’s announcement has become prominent in industry publications before adding that it will be widely discussed in the public and private investment sectors in the coming weeks and months.

Crypto industry observer Marty Party also commented that the Investment Board of the state of Wisconsin buying bitcoin ETFs should not be underestimated.

– This will trigger a chain reaction – wrote Party.

Wisconsin’s filing followed similar filings from major banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, which revealed that these large banks invested approximately 760 thousand and 143 thousand dollars in spot bitcoin ETFs, respectively.