BTC ETF institutional holders surge 54.5x in the last 11 months

Bitwise data shows that the number of institutional holders of BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has surged 54.5x. On February 16, institutional holders for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reached 3323, up from 61 holders on March 31 last year.

The U.S. crypto ETF market has also witnessed significant advancements, with 21 Bitcoin spot ETFs launched by major asset managers. Bitwise revealed that it will soon release the full findings of its annual survey of ETFs. 

Institutional holders of BTC ETFs increases by 54.5x

BREAKING: Institutional investors holding #Bitcoin ETFs have increased a remarkable 54.5x in the past 11 months.

Don't panic. HODL. pic.twitter.com/roidg4QMXJ

— Carl ₿ MENGER ⚡️🇸🇻 (@CarlBMenger) February 18, 2025

Institutional investors holding Bitcoin ETFs have increased by 54.5x in the past 11 months. Bold Report data reveals that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF has nearly $56.4 billion in AUM, while the total AUM of all other U.S-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs combined is $56.9B. The firm also showed that the number of Bitcoins held by ETFs reached 1.35M.

Juan Leon, Senior Investment Strategist at Bitwise, revealed the number of institutional holders increased according to notable holdings from BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF as of their latest filings on December 31. Leon noted that Goldman Sachs had over 24 million shares worth $1.35B, an 89% increase in their Bitcoin ETF holdings.

Millennium Management recorded more than 23 million shares of Bitcoin ETFs worth $1.32B, a 116% surge from their last fund holdings. Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund recorded over 8 million shares of BTC ETFs worth $461M. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board had slightly over 6 million shares worth $339M, a 110% increase, while Tudor Investment Corporation had 4.4M shares worth $248 million, a 409% increase.

“We’re now entering a mainstream era, where corporations and institutions will play a larger and larger role in bringing Bitcoin to more people.”

~Hunter Horsley, CEO at Bitwise.

Hunter Horsley, Bitwise CEO, revealed that a wealth management firm in California onboarded 63 clients into the Bitwise ETF, managing $300M in assets under management (AUM). He also believes that Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen rapid growth and expects millions of new investors to join the market. Horsley emphasized that wealth managers were pivotal in introducing traditional finance (TradFi) investors to crypto products.

Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33, revealed that the percentage of Bitcoin ETF AUM held by institutions surged 113% between the third and fourth quarters of 2024. Lunde added that the number of investors engaged in Bitcoin ETFs reached 1,576 in the last quarter of 2024, a 37.4% quarterly leap. Institutional holdings account for around one-third of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF holdings, while retail holdings continue to trail, with about 28% of the share. 

Hougan expects BTC ETF inflows to surge in 2025

Data from Fairside Investors revealed that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) saw a total of $40.9B of net inflows as of February 17. IBIT was followed by the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF with $22.02B. Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) had the third largest ETF flows with a net inflow of nearly $12.5B over the same period. ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF recorded $2.85B in Bitcoin ETF inflows. Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) had the fifth largest net inflow as of yesterday, taking in over $2.27B.

Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s CIO, revealed that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had nearly $5B worth of inflows last month. He also added that the $4.94B in January’s inflows could put BTC ETFs on track to see ~$59B in inflows this year. 

Hougan noted that Bitcoin ETFs brought in around $35.2B in 2024 and will attract more inflows in 2025 than they did last year. He also highlighted significant month-to-month volatility flows in BTC ETFs, which could “end the year north of $50b.”

Hougan and Bitwise’s head of research, Ryan Rasmussen, predicted in December last year that Bitcoin ETF inflows in 2025 would exceed those of 2024. Both executives revealed the ETFs ended 2024 with $33.6B in inflows, while analysts at the time of their launch in January 2024 expected them only to garner around $15B.

Hougan and Rasmussen added that an ETF’s first year was “typically the slowest.” The duo argued that gold ETFs had $2.6B in flows during their inaugural year in 2004 and more than doubled to $5.5B over 2005.

The duo also highlighted that the world’s largest wirehouses had yet to “unleash their army of wealth managers” who have mostly been denied access to Bitcoin ETFs. Both executives also predicted that a number of wealth managers would access BTC ETFs this year, which would expose the funds to potentially trillions of dollars.

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