Hedge Fund Millennium Management Reveals $2 Billion Holdings Across Five Spot Bitcoin ETFs

Updated: 16 May 2024

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International hedge fund Millennium Management revealed that it holds just under $2 billion in spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds), underscoring the increasing interest in the king of cryptos from institutional investors.

The alternative investment firm, which manages more than $64 billion in assets, held a total of $1.94 billion in shares across five spot BTC ETFs as of Mar. 31, a 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows.

BlackRock’s IBIT Millennium’s Biggest Spot Bitcoin ETF Position

Millennium invested $844 million in BlackRock’s IBIT, making it the firm’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF holding. Fidelity’s BTC ETF is its second-largest holding with slightly over $806 million.

The filing showed that Millennium also held shares in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

The hedge fund is exposed to spot BTC ETFs to the tune of about 200x more than the average of the the top 500 new holders, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. That prompted him to call the hedge fund the “king” of Bitcoin ETF holders.

Millennium is king of the bitcoin ETF holders w/ about $2b across four ETFs. This is out of over 500 holders (about 200x the avg for new ETF). Majority are inv advisors (60%) but a big dose of HFs (25%). Never can be totally sure what HFs up to but they were def big buyers. pic.twitter.com/iVtVXjhId0

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 15, 2024

Balchunas also revealed that approximately 60% of new spot BTC ETF buyers were advisory firms. Meanwhile, around 25% of new BTC ETF holders are hedge funds, he said.

Vanguard Staying True To Its Anti-Crypto Philosophy

While advisory firms and institutions diversify their portfolios via spot Bitcoin ETFs, investment giant Vanguard has said it won’t reverse its decision to not launch its own spot BTC ETF.

This comes after the former head of BlackRock’s global ETF business, Salim Ramji, was appointed as Vanguard’s new CEO. Initial speculation that this would lead to Vanguard launching a spot Bitcoin ETF subsided after Ramji said the company will remain true to its anti-crypto “investment philosophy.”

“I think it’s important for firms to have consistency in terms of what they stand for and the products and services they offer,” said Ramji in an interview with Barron’s that was published on May 15.