Detailed analysis of institutional Bitcoin holdings: What signals does the 13F filing reveal?

Author: Sam Callahan, Bitcoin Analyst; Compiler: Jinse Finance xiaozou

I carefully studied about 8,200 13F documents, and according to my statistics, there were 1,573 institutions holding long positions in Bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2024.

These institutions include banks, hedge funds, registered investment advisors (RIAs), family offices, endowments, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and other asset management companies.

Here are some of my main findings:

Before I go into detail, I want to explain what a 13F document is.

What is a 13F filing?

Every quarter, large investment firms (those with more than $100 million in assets under management) must file 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose their holdings of U.S. stocks and equity-related assets such as ETFs, real estate investment trusts (REITs), options, and convertible bonds.

It is important to know that 13F filings only include a company's long positions in U.S. equity-related assets. Therefore, 13F filings do not include assets such as bonds, real estate, commodities, precious metals, private investments (hedge funds, venture capital, etc.), futures, spot Bitcoin, cash, foreign stocks/currencies, and short positions. In other words, 13F filings do not fully reflect a company's overall investment portfolio. We cannot know the company's positions in other asset classes outside of U.S. equity-related assets, nor can we determine whether a long position is simply to hedge a short position elsewhere.

I mention this because I will be discussing the size of Bitcoin positions in these filings - but note that these data only reflect the company's allocation to US equity-related assets. In reality, assuming they are also investing in other asset classes, their actual Bitcoin positions may be smaller.

A good example is the recent disclosure of the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund's $IBIT (Bitcoin ETF) position - one of the most exciting 13F filings to date. Bitcoin is the fund's second largest position, with an exposure of approximately $437 million. But here's the kicker... the 13F filing only reports $20 billion in assets under management (AUM), while the fund's actual total AUM is $302 billion. In other words, the 13F filing only represents about 6.6% of the fund's total holdings. This makes sense, as the fund invests in a variety of asset classes around the world, far beyond US stocks. So, in reality, Bitcoin only represents 0.1% of the fund's total portfolio, not 2.1% - but even so, it's still a major positive development.

With this in mind, the median Bitcoin position for all institutions in these 13F filings is just 0.13%. Tiny… but positive. This suggests Bitcoin is still in the early stages of institutional adoption. One thing to note: BlackRock recently recommended a 1-2% allocation to Bitcoin.

But there are some investment firms that have a higher allocation to Bitcoin than their peers - and these firms happen to be managed by some top fund managers with outstanding performance.

Here are some of the most interesting 13F filings that caught my eye...

Some Interesting Findings

(1) Horizon Kinetics

Bitcoin is Horizon Kinetics’ second largest position (16.16%), with an exposure of approximately $1.3 billion. The company is managed by Murray Stahl, a prominent figure in the investment community. In their fourth quarter market commentary, they explained why they did not adjust their Bitcoin position.

（2） Bracebridge Capital

Its largest position is Bitcoin (23.6%), with an exposure of approximately $334 million. The company, led by Nancy Zimmerman, manages funds for foundations, pension funds, high net worth individuals, and manages part of the assets of two of the best performing endowment funds in the past 20 years - Yale University and Princeton University.

（3）Tudor Investment Corp

Tudor’s largest position is Bitcoin (1.625%), with an exposure of approximately $436 million. This filing has attracted some attention, and for good reason. Paul Tudor Jones is one of the greatest investors of his generation. Last month, he talked about why he holds Bitcoin now.

（4）Fortress Investment Group

Bitcoin is its fourth largest position (11.2%), with an exposure of approximately $70 million. Note: Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala acquired a 68% stake in Fortress last year, becoming its majority shareholder. So this is actually just more exposure to Bitcoin by the UAE.

（5）Brevan Howard

Bitcoin is its second largest position (8.74%), with an exposure of approximately $1.4 billion. Brevan Howard has been a long on Bitcoin for many years. The large macro fund has a lot of experience in holding assets. During the 2022 bear market, Bitcoin fell 50%, and billionaire Alan Howard expressed the following views.

（6）Discovery Capital Management Bitcoin is its fifth largest position (4.6%), with an exposure of approximately $68 million. Discovery is led by Robert Citrone, who has worked with Julian Robertson and George Soros and is the second largest shareholder in the Pittsburgh Steelers. He explained why he focuses on Bitcoin.

（7）Jericho Capital

Bitcoin is its fifth largest position (5.4%), with an exposure of approximately $378 million. Jericho is led by Josh Resnick and has performed very well - growing from $36 million in 2009 to over $7 billion under management today. Guess who he worked with early in his career.

（8）Hudson Bay Capital Management

The company holds a 0.15% Bitcoin position, with an exposure of approximately $44 million. But what you may not know is that the notorious Bitcoin short Nouriel Roubini is a senior advisor to the company. Fortunately, they did not follow his advice on Bitcoin.

(9) Wisconsin Investment Committee

The big news is that the state pension fund’s Bitcoin position has more than tripled from the previous quarter. Second quarter: $99 million, 2,898,051 shares (0.26%); third quarter: $104 million, 2,889,251 shares (0.26%); fourth quarter: $321 million, 6,060,351 shares (0.82%).

(10) Michigan Retirement System

But Wisconsin is not alone…Michigan’s pension fund also nearly doubled its Bitcoin position. Q2: $6.6 million, 110,000 shares (0.03%); Q3: $6.9 million, 110,000 shares (0.03%); Q4: $9.3 million, 100,000 shares (0.05%). It’s still small, but it’s growing.

(11) Emory University

Its second largest position is Bitcoin (32.3%), with an exposure of $22 million. The size of the endowment fund's Bitcoin position has not changed compared to the previous quarter, which means that although the Bitcoin position is currently up about 50%, it has not actively adjusted. Emory University chose to continue holding.

(12) Pine Ridge Advisors

Its second largest position is Bitcoin (18.4%) with an exposure of $209 million. I don’t know much about this firm, but I mention it because it has a very concentrated allocation for a family office of this size. Here is their entire website, so you know they are legit.

（13）Capula Management

Bitcoin is its second largest position (5.4%), with an exposure of approximately $936 million. This fourth-largest European hedge fund is led by Yan Huo, former head of fixed income trading at JPMorgan. What is their focus? Innovative, uncorrelated strategies. No wonder they are long Bitcoin.

（14）Cresset Asset Management

This is one of the largest and highest-ranked independent RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors) in the United States, and Bitcoin is one of its top 30 positions. Cresset has been increasing the size of its Bitcoin position every quarter. Second quarter: US$33.7 million (0.14%); Third quarter: US$53.9 million (0.21%); Fourth quarter: US$107.5 million (0.51%).

(15) Some other companies and banks

You may have noticed that there are some major companies that hold large Bitcoin ETF positions that I have not mentioned. They are:

• Millennium ($2.6 billion, 1.28%)

• Jane Street ($2.4 billion, 0.52%)

• The same is true for some of the big banks that hold positions in Bitcoin ETFs:

  • JPMorgan Chase ($964,000, 0.0001%)

  • Goldman Sachs ($2.3 billion, 0.37%)

  • Wells Fargo ($375,000, 0.0001%)

  • Bank of America ($24 million, 0.002%)

  • Morgan Stanley ($259 million, 0.02%)

  Firms such as JPMorgan are authorized participants (APs) for many Bitcoin ETFs and act as market makers. It is perfectly normal for APs to hold some ETF shares on their balance sheets, as they are responsible for creating and redeeming ETF shares. Market makers also need to maintain an inventory of ETF shares to facilitate trading. By holding ETF shares, they can better keep the market liquid and efficient and maintain accurate pricing of the ETF.

  Beyond these approved “crypto-asset activities,” the Fed currently prohibits banks from holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets with their own funds.

  Regulation is changing

  However, with the repeal of SAB-121, the regulatory environment is changing.

  Morgan Stanley stands out — it became the first major bank to allow financial advisors to recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients last August. Goldman Sachs has also been active, offering Bitcoin exposure to wealthy clients through its asset management division for years. But if its trading desk has exposure, I’d guess it’s probably running market-neutral carry strategies like basis trades — meaning it’s not net long Bitcoin.

  It will be interesting to see how these big banks adjust their positions and expand their Bitcoin involvement in the coming quarters as banking regulation evolves. It’s worth keeping an eye on.

  What the 13F Filings Tell

  In summary, these 13F filings show Bitcoin is becoming an institutional-grade asset. It’s now large enough and liquid enough to accommodate these investors. As new investment vehicles come to market, these firms will have more ways to gain exposure to Bitcoin, and adoption will accelerate.

  I’ve covered some of the pioneers in this article, but we’re still in the very early stages of this trend — which means there’s a huge opportunity ahead. Institutional investors managing trillions of dollars are still just testing the waters in this market.

  According to my research: Of the 8,190 13F filings last quarter, only about 19% of companies held long Bitcoin exposure.

  As more institutions enter — or already have entered institutions increasing their allocations — the inflows could push Bitcoin to new heights and change its investor base forever.