- At least 13 different banks and hedge funds revealed Bitcoin holdings in regulatory filings.
- Bitwise's CIO says the purchases are just the beginning.
Heavyweight Wall Street firms Morgan Stanley and Millennium Management bought millions in Bitcoin ETFs last quarter, new filings reveal.
And analysts say more buying is on the way as pension funds and others begin to invest in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which were launched in January after they received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to a 13F filing Wednesday, Morgan Stanley bought $270 million in Grayscale Investments’ Bitcoin product last quarter.
Millennium, which managed over $61 billion in assets as of December, bought roughly $2 billion across several different Bitcoin ETFs, including $844 million in BlackRock’s offering and $806 million in Fidelity’s fund.
A hedge fund like Millennium likely uses the position as part of a broader trading strategy and not necessarily to hold the asset long-term.
Apollo Management, Elliott Investment Management, Hunting Hill, Point72 and at least seven others also purchased shares in spot Bitcoin ETFs.
On Tuesday, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages the state’s pension funds, revealed it had purchased $100 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.
The arrival of such a large institution for a new product on the market was a surprise, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas.
“Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds,” he said.
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of crypto investment firm Bitwise, said the spate of Bitcoin buying is just the beginning.
“Beginning about six months after the initial allocation, many firms begin allocating across their entire book of clients, with allocations ranging from 1-5% of the portfolio,” he wrote in a post.
Liam Kelly is a DeFi Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at liam@dlnews.com.