The curtain came down on its first-quarter 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, and reports revealed a seismic shift in institutional investment patterns towards bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with Millennium Management emerging as the front-runner in the asset class. This new one.
Millennium Becomes King of Bitcoin ETFs
Millennium Management, which is headed by billionaire Izzy Englander and oversees more than $64 billion in assets, announced an unprecedented $2 billion investment. distributed Among the many Bitcoin ETFs. This massive investment not only puts Millennium at the pinnacle of Bitcoin ETF ownership, but also signals broader acceptance and validation within traditional investment frameworks.
The detailed disclosure showed that Millennium's investments are spread across five main funds: $844,181,820 in BlackRock's iShares BTC Trust (IBIT) which represents 20,859,447 shares, and $806,640,303 in Fidelity's Wise Origin BTC Fund (FBTC) which holds 12,997,749 shares. shares, $202,029,915 in BTC Trust (GB TC) holding 3,198,194 shares, $45,001,320 in ARK's BTC ETF (ARKB) for 634,000 shares, $44,737,805 in ARK's BTC ETF (BITB). Bitwise affiliate with 1,155,717 shares.
“Big deposit after market close today,” commented popular cryptocurrency analyst MacroScope via $ in BlackRock's IBIT and Grayscale's GBTC.
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, this level of diversified investment across all Bitcoin ETFs is unprecedented. But “Millennium has Bitcoin ETF holders with about $2 billion across four ETFs, out of more than 500 holders. That's about 200 times the average new ETF,” Balchunas explained.
He also noted that the majority of these investments came from investment advisors (60%) and a large portion from hedge funds (25%). Balchunas also highlighted IBIT's rapid accumulation of liquidity and diversified institutional footprint, which is unusual for a newly launched ETF.
Millennium is the king of Bitcoin ETF holders with about $2 billion across four ETFs. This is out of more than 500 holders (about 200 times the average for new ETFs). The majority are investment advisors (60%) but have a heavy dose of HFs (25%). You can never be completely sure what the HFs were up to but they were certainly big buyers. pic.twitter.com/iVtVXjhId0
– Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 15, 2024
“You typically don't see such a diverse range of owner types until years after ETFs are launched,” he added, indicating strong market confidence in Bitcoin's potential as an investment asset.
The growth of the sector has been further confirmed by additional disclosures from other major financial entities. Paul Singer's Elliott Capital disclosed an investment of nearly $12 million in BlackRock's IBIT as of the end of the quarter, while Apollo Management Holdings announced a $53.2 million stake in ARKB/21's ARKB.
The investment wave did not end with hedge funds and asset managers. Other prominent entities such as Aristeia Capital and Hudson Bay Capital have also disclosed significant stakes in Bitcoin ETFs, contributing to the combined assets under management of all 10 available spot Bitcoin ETFs, which now stand at cumulative inflows of $12.1 billion.
As the deadline closed, the filings painted a picture of a rapidly maturing market where Bitcoin is no longer viewed merely as an alternative or speculative asset but as a viable part of diversified investment portfolios, attracting interest across a wide range of financial institutions.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $65,771.
Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com