Professional investors dumped 52K BTC worth of ETFs in Q1, filings show
Professional ownership of US spot Bitcoin ETFs fell sharply in Q1 as Bitcoin’s drawdown deepened, pointing to trading-oriented institutions as a major source of selling. CoinShares’ analysis of 13F filings showed professional investors cut ETF exposure to 261,000 BTC from 313,000 BTC, a 17% drop, while holdings’ value fell 35% to $17.8 billion. Their share of total US Bitcoin ETF assets slipped to 20.8% from 24.7%. Most of the reduction came from hedge funds and brokerages, which drove about 96% of the selling. Hedge funds cut exposure 39%, and brokerages reduced holdings 53%. Investment advisors trimmed only slightly, while banks more than doubled their Bitcoin ETF positions. The decline came alongside a 22% Q1 drop in Bitcoin’s price, with deeper losses from its October high. Even so, CoinShares pointed to improving regulation, including clearer SEC-CFTC roles, possible retirement-account changes, and the ongoing CLARITY Act, which could strengthen long-term adoption.
