ETF Investments Reflect Institutional Appetite for Crypto Exposure

• US Bancorp, which manages over $600 billion in assets, has invested $15 million in Bitcoin ETFs, half of which went to BlackRock’s IBIT, according to its latest SEC filings.
• The Rothschilds have also jumped aboard the bandwagon, revealing that they purchased $4.2 million in IBIT shares through their Swiss-owned bank.

The institutions are clamouring for Bitcoin, with the latest to reveal their BTC spot ETF holdings being US Bancorp, JPMorgan and the Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) S.A. bank.

Spot ETFs launched in January, making it easier for institutions to bet on Bitcoin without worrying about regulatory, cybersecurity or fiscal risk. Since then, one global giant after another has revealed investment in the top crypto.

Two of the largest commercial lenders in America—US Bancorp and JPMorgan—are among the latest to back Bitcoin. In its filing with the SEC, US Bancorp revealed that it had invested over $15 million in the ETFs.

The bank’s biggest investment is in IBIT, an ETF issued by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. US Bancorp has invested just over $7 million in IBIT, with $5.4 million invested in Fidelity’s ETF and $3 million in GBTC, the Grayscale ETF that has lost billions of dollars in outflows since its launch earlier this year, as Crypto News Flash has reported.

Based in Minnesota, US Bancorp is a bank holding company that operates the fifth-largest banking institution in America. According to its filings, it currently has just over $660 billion in assets under management and has invested over $70 billion.

JPMorgan, the largest bank in the country, also recently revealed its foray into Bitcoin ETFs. On Friday, the bank’s filing with the SEC revealed it holds $1.2 million, a measly figure given its size. It has distributed this sum in Grayscale, BlackRock, Bitwise, Fidelity and ProShares.

The size of JPMorgan’s investment is underwhelming. However, it plays to the narrative that Wall Street is progressively accepting Bitcoin. With JPMorgan, the significance is even bigger as its CEO, Jamie Dimon, is one of the harshest BTC critics on Wall Street. While Dimon calls Bitcoin a”Ponzi scheme,” his bank keeps exploring the asset and the technology behind it.

Banking Giants Invest in Bitcoin ETFs

Beyond the US, one of the world’s most influential families, the Rothschilds, have also aped in. Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) S.A, the family’s Swiss banking corporation, revealed in a recent filing that it had invested over $4 million in Bitcoin ETFs.

The bank has invested its entire portfolio in BlackRock’s IBIT, with a mere $82,000 going to Grayscale. The Swiss bank is part of a banking conglomerate founded in the 1700s and continues to be one of the most influential in Europe today.

🚨 NEW: SEC filings show the ROTHSCHILDS have $3.6m in #Bitcoin ETFs pic.twitter.com/kmA9nZoMzb

— Julian Fahrer (@Julian__Fahrer) May 9, 2024

Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s ETF expert, commented that looking beyond the small investments these banks are making, what’s most impressive is the number of holders that the ETFs have racked up. Comparing them to some of the ETFs launched around the same time in January, the Bitcoin ETFs are miles ahead.

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