Suzanne McGee

(Reuters) - A high-profile asset manager fell 12% in the first quarter of 2025, but cut shares in a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, according to recent regulatory filings.

This marks a comparison with previous cases of increasing their holdings in spot Bitcoin ETFs, as previously described in the 13-F filing to the SEC.

Spot Bitcoin ETFS debuted in January 2024 and now depicts more complex images. Hedge funds trim their shares, while some financial consulting firms and wealth funds raise or rebalance their positions.

“What we’ve witnessed in the first quarter is the collapse of premiums people paying for Bitcoin futures, which has built up a very profitable underlying trade,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at BitWise Asset Manager.

Hougan said hedge funds seeking to profit from profits between spot and futures prices can capture an annual rate of return of 15%.

"But, this advanced collapsed and arrived at Nadir around the end of March," he said. "So, I was not surprised to see hedge funds pruning their shares."

Millennium Management LLC cut its Ishares Bitcoin Trust ETF by 41% to 176 million shares and exited its position in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF. It increased its stake in only two ETFs, thereby increasing its holdings in the ARK 21 stock Bitcoin ETF and the Grey Bitcoin Mini Trust.

Jersey-based Brevan Howard increased its stake in the Ishares ETF by 15.6%.

The Wisconsin Investment Commission, one of the earliest institutional investors, was the earliest to make substantial allocations to discover Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, selling all its 6 million shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust in the first three months of this year.

Meanwhile, Brown University first got involved in cryptocurrency ETF ownership during the same period, gaining shares in the same ETF, worth $4.9 million as of the end of March.

Neither the State Pension Fund nor Brown University representatives responded to a request for comment on their move.

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Sovereign Wealth Fund increased its Ishares ETF holdings in the first quarter, with its total position rising to 8726,972 shares worth $408.5 million.

“The most important thing for me is that when all the data ends up in and we can analyze it, more investment consulting firms are stepping in.”

“The adoption wave may be a slow train, but it has the momentum to move forward.”

(Reported by Suzanne McGee; Editor of Diane Craft)