BNP Paribas, the second-largest European bank, recently bought exposure to Bitcoin through an exchange-traded fund. 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission .
BNP Paribas bought BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), filings show.
JUST IN: 🇫🇷 The second largest European bank, BNP Paribas, announces exposure to… #Bitcoin ETF in 13F filings.
You've just started 🚀 pic.twitter.com/4zi1EkAc07
– Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 2, 2024
Bitcoin ETFs in the US have seen tremendous success since their launch earlier this year, with cumulative trading volume exceeding $200 billion.
Under the regulations, large institutional investors managing more than $100 million must disclose their quarterly holdings through 13F filings. After its highly anticipated debut, Bitcoin investors have been waiting for these filings to find out which institutions allocate Bitcoin ETFs.
Previous Q1 2024 filings revealed purchases by asset managers, family offices and banks such as Park Avenue Securities, Inscription Capital, Wedbush Private Capital and US National Bank.
Now BNP Paribas, the second largest bank in Europe with assets under management of more than $600 billion, has joined. $40,000 investment in IBIT Since it is relatively small, it is significant that one of the largest banks in Europe would start gaining exposure to Bitcoin via ETFs.
According to analysts, more 13F filings before the May 15 deadline could reveal more institutional participation in spot Bitcoin ETFs. The filings so far indicate a growing acceptance of Bitcoin among traditional financial players.
If more major banks and asset managers disclose Bitcoin allocations, it will validate Bitcoin as an investable asset class.
Adoption by old guard institutions could spur broader mainstream acceptance and additional flows into regulated Bitcoin investment vehicles. While purchases of Bitcoin ETFs still represent a small portion of portfolios so far, the fact that traditional giants like BNP Paribas are participating is telling.
