Barclays lifts BlackRock bitcoin ETF stake 48% as banks expand holdings

What happened

Barclays disclosed a larger stake in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust in a quarterly filing submitted Nov. 6, reporting 3,942,900 IBIT shares valued at $186.66 million on Sept. 30. That compared with 2.66 million shares worth $88.5 million three months earlier, a 48% increase in share count, according to Cointelegraph and Crypto.news. The dollar value more than doubled, and Barclays listed the shares across three positions.

Citigroup, which filed two days before Barclays, reported a new holding of 1,636,387 FBTC shares worth $118.87 million. It also held 521,144 IBIT shares valued at $24.67 million, up about 50.1% from 347,114 shares at June 30. Both banks also reported IBIT options separately from their share positions.

Across the three share positions, the quarter-end value was $330.19 million, excluding options. The reports are an early sample: Bitwise compared 1,389 institutions that had filed by Friday and found banks held $258 million, or 4.9%, of reported spot bitcoin ETF positions, up from $107 million and 3.2% in the second quarter. Investment advisers remained the largest group at $3.5 billion, or 66.6%, and the early filers' combined holdings rose to $5.25 billion from $3.35 billion.

Why it matters

The figures indicate banks are becoming more visible in bitcoin ETF ownership, though from a small base. Camran Khosravi of Bitwise told Cointelegraph that early readings suggest longer-term holders are a growing part of the spot bitcoin ETF investor base, and he pointed to increased bank exposure. He also said advisers at large banks and wealth platforms can now recommend bitcoin ETFs, which he expects to show up more in future filings.

Still, 13F reports are not a clean measure of fresh demand. They show long positions without subtracting shorts, and options are reported separately. The filings also do not explain whether positions reflect client activity, market making or proprietary trading.

What the data shows

Fund-flow data add a different picture. US spot bitcoin ETFs took in about $6.34 billion in the third quarter, then lost roughly $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter through Tuesday, according to SoSoValue. Crypto.news reported that bitcoin ETFs lost $1.28 billion during Nov. 2-6, with IBIT accounting for $1.21 billion; FBTC took in $93.1 million for the week despite a $199.9 million outflow on Thursday. Ether ETFs shed $365.2 million, for combined withdrawals of about $1.65 billion.

Jonatan Randin of PrimeXBT told Cointelegraph that share counts matter more than dollar values because IBIT rose about 41% in price during the third quarter. He also noted the filings capture Sept. 30 positions, before bitcoin's later decline and ETF outflows. A separate October CoinShares survey found diversification was cited in 40% of responses about why investors held digital assets, versus less than 9% for speculation.

Background

Quarterly 13F filings are required from institutional managers with investment discretion over at least $100 million in covered securities. They are quarter-end snapshots, not records of transaction dates or purchase prices. A similar limitation applied to Jane Street's June disclosure of more than $1 billion in bitcoin ETF shares, including about $828 million in IBIT, which did not establish the purpose or unhedged exposure.

Separately, Deutsche Bank launched crypto custody for paying institutional and corporate clients in Europe on Nov. 11, Reuters reported. The service initially supports bitcoin, ether, USDC, EURC and EURAU, with the bank managing wallets and private keys through its Autobahn platform. Deutsche Bank's October MiCA registration covers crypto custody and transfer services, and it has announced plans to expand into major Asian financial centers in 2027.

What is still unclear

The options disclosures leave the banks' strategies unclear. Barclays reported IBIT calls covering 8,479,800 underlying shares and puts covering 8,169,700 shares. Citigroup listed calls covering 400,000 shares and puts covering 505,000 shares, both smaller than its June options positions. The filings show investment discretion and voting authority but not whether the positions serve customers, market making or proprietary books; written options are excluded and qualifying held options are listed separately, so offsetting trades are not fully visible.

What to watch

The SEC lists Nov. 16 as the deadline for third-quarter 13F reports. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Millennium and Schonfeld had not reported by the early tally, so the bank share could change. Fourth-quarter filings, covering Dec. 31 positions, are due Feb. 16, 2027, and will be the next scheduled look at whether the third-quarter trends persisted after recent ETF outflows.

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