Institutions Boost Crypto Holdings Amid Price Decline
The second quarter saw institutional investors increasing their crypto holdings despite a sharp decline in cryptocurrency prices. According to data from 13F forms submitted to the SEC, institutional Bitcoin (BTC) holdings rose by 7.5% to approximately 536,000 coins.
This increase contrasts with the price trend of BTC, which fell by about 14.2% during the same period. Meanwhile, total ETF holdings decreased from around 1.297 million coins to approximately 1.211 million coins.
Ethereum (ETH) growth at banks outpaced that of Bitcoin, with Morgan Stanley's ETH exposure growing by 18.6% and JPMorgan's ETH exposure surging by 67.3%. On an individual level, the figures are even more striking, with Morgan Stanley's ETHA increasing by about 202%, JPMorgan's ETHA rising by about 338%, and Bank of America's ETHA skyrocketing from about 67,500 shares to approximately 1.98 million shares.
However, despite these increases in institutional holdings, the overall spot Ethereum ETF saw net outflows in Q2, totaling a net outflow of about $714 million for the quarter.