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Wall Street Tightened Its Grip on Bitcoin ETFs in Q2

BY | ETF Database
8:18 am ET 11/05/26 | 9 VIEWS
Wall Street firms and other large investors added bitcoin exposure in the second quarter even as bitcoin’s 14% price drop sent smaller investors to the exits, according to CoinShares’ Bitcoin 13F Q2 2026 report.Key Takeaways: Hedge funds cut bitcoin ETF exposure 22%, leaving them with less than half their 2025 year-end holdings. Advisors still hold roughly 55% of Wall Street’s bitcoin ETF stake despite trimming holdings by 3%. Jane Street, an ETF trading firm, added 10,900 bitcoin, the biggest increase of any 13F filer. The report draws on 13F filings — quarterly holdings reports required by the Securities and Exchange Commission for money managers overseeing at least $100 million. That group ranges from hedge funds and banks to financial advisors and university endowments. Together, they held the equivalent of 264,000 bitcoin through U.S. spot ETFs at the end of June, up 1.3% from 261,000 in March, according to CoinShares. Their share of U.S. bitcoin ETF assets rose from 20.8% to 22.4% as a result, the report found. It was the first increase in that share since mid-2025. See more: A Fed pause & pre-election nerves failed to knock bitcoin off course Total bitcoin held by U.S. spot ETFs fell 6.3% during the quarter, according to CoinShares. Investors who don’t file 13Fs, such as individuals and smaller advisors, cut their holdings by 8.3%, or roughly 82,500 coins. CoinShares said that leveraged and short-term trades kept unwinding, while “the more strategic, longer-duration holders held broadly steady.” Those holders own bitcoin through spot ETFs, which hold the actual coins for shareholders. The CoinShares Bitcoin ETF (BRRR ), for example, held about 5,720 bitcoin worth $458.1 million as of November 5, according to CoinShares. BRRR launched in January 2024 alongside the first wave of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. It charges a 0.25% sponsor fee, according to the firm.Inside Wall Street’s Bitcoin MovesAmong the large firms that own these funds, hedge funds pulled back the most. They cut exposure 22% to 37,800 bitcoin, less than half their 2025 year-end level, according to the report. D.E. Shaw & Co. exited its 3,700-bitcoin position, CoinShares said. Millennium Management cut its stake roughly in half, from 14,400 to 7,300 bitcoin. Advisors trimmed holdings 3% to 145,700 bitcoin but still accounted for roughly 55% of the 13F total, according to CoinShares. Brevan Howard Capital Management made the largest cut of any filer, dropping from 13,700 to 4,100 bitcoin. Brokerages moved the other way, lifting holdings to 38,500 bitcoin from 17,000, the report showed. Jane Street, a trading firm that helps keep ETF prices in line with their holdings, added 10,900 bitcoin, the biggest increase of any filer. Part of that jump reflects timing. The brokerage total includes 10,400 bitcoin held by Morgan Stanley (MS), whose first-quarter filing was missing from the data that CoinShares used last time. Governments and endowments were broadly unchanged. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi held 8,400 bitcoin, according to CoinShares. Harvard University held 1,700, while Brown University held 121 and Dartmouth College held 114. Bitcoin has since bounced back. It rallied roughly 25% in August, its strongest month in nearly two years, the report noted. ETF flows also swung to $3.5 billion of net inflows that month, erasing two-thirds of the year’s outflows. For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.

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