Institutional Bitcoin Holdings Drop 17% in First Quarter as Hedge Funds, Brokers Exit
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Institutional investors sharply reduced their Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter.
CoinShares' analysis of 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, released on June 5, showed professional investors held 261,000 BTC at the end of the first quarter, down from 313,000 BTC in the fourth quarter of last year.
That was a decline of about 17% from the previous quarter. In total, institutional investors cut 52,500 BTC of exposure during the period.
Hedge funds and brokerage firms led the pullback, accounting for about 95% of the overall decline.
Bitcoin holdings by hedge funds fell 39% from the previous quarter, while brokerage firms' holdings dropped 53%.
Banks, by contrast, increased their Bitcoin exposure. Their combined holdings rose to 15,200 BTC, with JPMorgan and Wells Fargo expanding their Bitcoin-related positions.
Citigroup also disclosed Bitcoin holdings for the first time in the latest filing.
CoinShares said hedge funds and brokers, which tend to have a shorter-term focus, reduced risk exposure as volatility in the digital-asset market increased. Traditional financial institutions, by contrast, are expanding their participation in the Bitcoin market with a longer-term view.
