Bitwise, a prominent Bitcoin ETF provider in the United States, is feeling extremely optimistic about BTC following recent investor disclosures. In a memo, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan discussed the newly revealed Bitcoin ETF buyers who disclosed their allocations through mandatory 13F filings with regulators. These filings are required by the SEC for all investors with $100 million in assets under management, and they disclose the investor’s ownership of publicly traded securities. Many investors have already filed their Q1 2024 reports, which is the first reporting period since Bitcoin spot ETFs became live.
Hougan noted that a significant number of professional investors own Bitcoin ETFs, including well-known asset managers like Hightower Advisors and Bracebridge Capital. As of May 9, a total of 563 professional investment firms were identified as buyers of the ETFs, with a combined allocation of $3.5 billion. This number does not include filings made after May 9, such as the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which reported a $162 million allocation to Bitcoin on Tuesday.
The high number of 13F filers in the first few months of the Bitcoin ETFs’ existence is unprecedented and a testament to their broad appeal, according to Hougan. While most of the buyers so far have been retail investors, professional investors are slowly starting to enter the market. Hougan explained that professional investors typically take 6-12 months to evaluate cryptocurrency and make personal allocations to test the waters before making larger allocations on behalf of their clients. After about 6 months, these firms will start making significant allocations across their entire client book, comprising 1% to 5% of their portfolios. Currently, allocations made by investors like HighTower only account for 0.05% of their portfolios.
Bitwise is confident that the growing interest from professional investors is a positive sign for Bitcoin ETFs and suggests that the market will continue to expand.