Institutional Investors Ramp Up Bitcoin ETF Holdings Despite Price Drop, Bitwise Reports
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price dropped by 12% in the second quarter, yet this didn’t deter institutional investors from substantially boosting their investments in BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to a report released by asset manager Bitwise on Monday.
“The most pressing question in crypto today is whether institutions and professional investors will make significant allocations to the sector,” wrote Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer. The report highlighted a 14% increase in the number of institutional investors holding bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter, rising to 1,100 from 965 in the first quarter.
The proportion of total assets under management (AUM) in bitcoin ETFs held by these institutions also climbed, reaching 21.15% from 18.74%, with institutions ending the quarter holding $11 billion in BTC ETFs.
“This is an encouraging sign,” Hougan noted. “If institutions are willing to buy bitcoin during periods of volatility, one can only imagine the potential impact during a bull market.”
Bitwise addressed the criticism that bitcoin ETFs are largely held by retail investors, a claim it firmly disputes. The report emphasized that institutions have adopted these ETFs “at the fastest rate of any ETF in history.”
Most ETFs typically gain traction gradually, but the report suggests that inflows into bitcoin ETFs are projected to be larger in 2025 than in 2024, and even more substantial in 2026 than in 2025.
“The institutions are not just coming—they’re coming in force,” the report concluded.
In related news, Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs (GS) recently disclosed its positions in seven out of the eleven bitcoin ETFs available in the U.S., as revealed in a 13F filing earlier this month.
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