tl;dr
Sam Callahan, a Bitcoin analyst, found that 1,573 institutions had long exposure to Bitcoin by the end of 2024, based on US Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filings. However, these filings only show a firm's long positions in US equity-related assets and do not provide a complete picture of th...
Sam Callahan, a Bitcoin analyst, found that 1,573 institutions had long exposure to Bitcoin by the end of 2024, based on US Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filings. However, these filings only show a firm's long positions in US equity-related assets and do not provide a complete picture of their total portfolio. The median Bitcoin position across institutions was 0.13%, indicating early-stage adoption. Notable firms with significant Bitcoin allocations included Horizon Kinetics, Bracebridge Capital, Tudor Investment Corp, and Brevan Howard. While institutional interest in Bitcoin is growing, it is still in the early stages. Additionally, SEC filings mentioning Bitcoin and Ethereum have reached record levels, indicating increased institutional involvement. The regulatory landscape in the US is expected to further accelerate Bitcoin and crypto adoption. Retail interest remains weak, with markets mostly range-bound.
There were 1,573 institutions with long exposure to Bitcoin as of the end of 2024, according to findings from Bitcoin analyst and educator Sam Callahan. The researcher took a deep dive into US Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filings, which are forms that large investment firms submit quarterly to disclose their holdings of stocks and equity-related assets. The institutions included banks, hedge funds, registered investment advisors, family offices, endowments, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and other asset managers, he noted.
However, he noted that these 13F filings only contain a firm’s long positions in US equity-related assets. They exclude assets such as bonds, real estate, commodities, venture capital, futures, cash, and spot Bitcoin ETFs, so they only provide an “incomplete picture” of a firm’s total portfolio. However, the median Bitcoin position across institutions was just 0.13%, indicating that adoption was still in very early stages. Some notable firms with significant Bitcoin allocations include Horizon Kinetics, with $1.3 billion exposure or 16%, Bracebridge Capital has $334 million exposure or around 24%, Tudor Investment Corp as $436 million, 1.6% while Brevan Howard has 8.7%, equating to $1.4 billion in Bitcoin. Large quant and market-making firms such as Millennium, Jane Street, and Citadel hold Bitcoin ETFs, but primarily for arbitrage, not for long-term investment, he noted. Meanwhile, banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have small Bitcoin ETF holdings, mainly for market-making purposes, due to current regulatory restrictions. Overall, Bitcoin is gaining traction as an institutional asset, but its adoption is still in its early stages. Only 19% of the 8,190 13F filings last quarter reported BTC exposure.
On Feb. 19, Alphractal founder and CEO Joao Wedson observed that SEC filings mentioning the top two crypto assets are at record levels. The improved regulatory landscape in the United States under the new Donald Trump administration has been tipped to accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin and crypto as they go mainstream. Meanwhile, retail is still showing weak hands, with markets remaining range-bound for most of this month.