Institutional Investors Poured $38.7 Billion Into Bitcoin ETFs in Q4, Tripling Previous Quarter’s Inflows
Institutional investors significantly ramped up their exposure to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the fourth quarter of 2024, purchasing a staggering $38.7 billion worth of holdings, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Despite Bitcoin’s volatility, major financial institutions, including pension funds and hedge funds, continued to increase their investments. Data from SEC 13F filings revealed that institutional holdings of spot Bitcoin ETFs tripled compared to the previous quarter, when only $12.4 billion was reported, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan.
The SEC mandates that investors with assets over $100 million disclose their holdings each quarter, providing a clearer picture of institutional adoption.
Several prominent funds have aggressively expanded their Bitcoin ETF positions since the products launched in January 2024. For example, the State of Wisconsin’s Investment Board increased its stake to over 6 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by the end of the year.
Similarly, billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones nearly doubled his stake in IBIT, raising his holdings from 4.4 million shares to over 8 million. Meanwhile, Corvex Management, an investment firm led by Keith Meister, disclosed ownership of more than 1 million shares in IBIT as of December 31.
According to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, IBIT now has 1,100 institutional holders, a record-breaking figure for a newly launched ETF.
“New ETFs typically attract fewer than 10 institutional holders in their early months,” Balchunas noted, adding that the previous record for a first-year ETF was likely around 350 institutional investors.
