52% of Top US Hedge Funds Own Bitcoin ETFs

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Most bitcoin is in the hands of individuals, but this trend is changing. In this newsletter, we cover the rising shift in bitcoin ownership. Big business wants your coins!

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🏢 Which Institutions Bought Bitcoin ETFs?

We did the research: 534 institutions with over $1 billion in assets now hold Bitcoin ETFs.

Ranging from hedge funds to pensions and insurance companies, the breadth of adoption is remarkable.

Of the largest 25 hedge funds in the US, over half now have exposure to bitcoin, with a staggering $2 billion held by Millennium Management. Additionally, 11 of the largest 25 Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) now have an allocation, as well as hundreds of smaller ones. 

So does this mean you should be buying Bitcoin ETFs too? It depends, in most cases it makes more sense to own bitcoin itself. You can see what makes sense for you in our Learn article.

As our CEO Alex Leishman recently wrote: “If you sell your bitcoin to Blackrock, you probably won’t be getting it back.”

⚖️ Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet 

At River, we believe that every person will have bitcoin savings, and every business will have bitcoin on their balance sheet. We’re watching this happen in real-time.

Over a thousand businesses on our platform hold bitcoin on their balance sheet.

A year ago the average business held 2.5 BTC worth $70k, ever since, they increased their holdings to over 4 BTC, and the value increased to over $280k.

We are sharing this data to say it is no longer just the MicroStrategy’s of the world accumulating Bitcoin, but businesses of all sizes.

If you run a business, consider onboarding with us today.

If you love to see all things Bitcoin adoption, check out this recent presentation from our CEO Alex Leishman at MicroStrategy World 2024.

Alex spoke about Bitcoin Adoption Trends for individuals, businesses, institutions, and countries, sharing our research over the past year to map out how bitcoin has been flowing around the world.

He also talked about the state of Bitcoin’s technological development and the areas that are being explored to help Bitcoin scale.