State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Titan Global invest in spot Bitcoin ETFs
In a May 14 filing, SWIB disclosed 2.5 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT worth $99.1 million and 1.0 million shares of Grayscale’s GBTC worth $63.7 million.
The investment makes SWIB the second-largest holder of IBIT after Bracebridge Capital. SWIB is also the seventh largest GBTC holder, surpassed by others, including the largest holder, Susquehanna International Group (SIG).
SWIB is an independent state agency responsible for managing the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System, the State Investment Fund (SIF), and other state funds.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the investment is unusually early for its type, stating that “big fish institutions” usually wait about one year for ETFs to achieve greater liquidity.
He added:
“These are no ordinary launches … good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”
Titan and Keybank invest
Fintech investment management firm Titan Global Capital Management separately disclosed 1.6 million shares of IBIT worth $65.5 million in a filing on May 13.
The investment makes Titan the fourth largest IBIT holder.
Titan’s IBIT investment is also larger by dollar value than any other in its filing. The firm’s next largest investment is $37.6 million of Amazon (AMZN) shares.
Elsewhere, the Ohio-based KeyBank National Association disclosed 3,723 shares of GBTC worth $235,182 in a May 14 filing. In 2021, KeyBank ranked among the 25 largest US banks.
Recent 13F filings
Each investment follows disclosures from other companies.
Companies recently disclosed spot Bitcoin ETF investments include Symmetry Invest and Rubric Capital, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, Hightower Investors and SouthState Bank, US Bancorp and Edmond De Rothschild Holding SA, and UBS and Multicoin Capital.
Some companies have invested in spot Bitcoin ETFs other than IBIT and GBTC. However, the two funds are common investments. At least 317 firms have disclosed investments in IBIT, and at least 502 firms have disclosed investments in GBTC, according to Fintel data.
IBIT and GBTC are the two largest spot Bitcoin ETFs by assets under management (AUM), with $17.2 billion and $18.3 billion in AUM, respectively.
All ten active spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively have $52.8 billion of assets under management.
