This week’s 13F filing revealed who is buying the spot Bitcoin ETFs and what their position size is, and while Bitwise Chief Investment Office Matt Hougan celebrated the success of the ETFs, he says there is a significant point that the media might miss that makes him even more bullish on the BTC ETFs. Hougan said that 563 professional investment firms have reported owning a combined $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoin ETFs. Hougan anticipates that these numbers could eventually surpass 700 firms with total assets under management nearing $5 billion.Hougan’s guess was spot on, with the latest data from K33 Research revealing that more than 900 firms disclosed their spot Bitcoin ETF holdings.In a May 16 post on X, Senior analyst at K33 Research Ventle Lunde shared the following chart saying,Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas observed that the biggest ETFs have attracted the largest portion of institutional capital, with BlackRock’s IBIT attracting more than 400 holders.While terming this a “huge success,” Hougan said,However, the executive noted that with more than $50 billion in assets under management (AUM), professional investors own just 7-10% of the total investment, and K33 Research data reveals this share to be 18%.Lunde’s X post explained,However, Hougan argued that media portrayal of the spot Bitcoin ETFs being “retail-driven” funds might overlook a critical emerging trend that leaves him “incredibly bullish” from the initial 13F filings.The Bitwise CIO laid out a typical four-step investment trajectory observed among institutions, starting with a period of due diligence lasting 6-12 months of investment evaluation. The second step involves professionals making a small personal allocation before “exposing their investors to the market.” Eventually, this leads to more substantial platform-wide allocations across the entire client book, typically ranging from 1-5% of the portfolio, about six months after the initial allocation.“This tells me that the allocations we see in recent 13F filings are just a down payment,” Hougan wrote.Using Hightower Advisors as an example, Hougan explained that its current spot Bitcoin ETF allocation amounts to just 0.05% of its assets. However, if they were to follow the typical four-step investment process, a 1% allocation in time would equate to $1.2 billion from a single firm.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
