Barclays Lifts Bitcoin ETF Stake 48% as Citi Opens $119 Million Fidelity Position

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Barclays Lifts Bitcoin ETF Stake 48% as Citi Opens $119 Million Fidelity Position

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Barclays raised its holdings in BlackRock's bitcoin ETF to nearly $187 million, while Citi reported a new $119 million stake in Fidelity's fund, both as of Sept. 30. Both banks also reported IBIT options, so their overall trading strategies remain undisclosed.

Barclays lists 3,942,900 IBIT shares worth $186.66 million in a filing submitted Nov. 6. Citigroup filed two days earlier, and its report shows holdings in both BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund.

Barclays and Citi report larger bitcoin ETF positions

The Barclays share count compares with roughly 2.66 million shares worth $88.5 million at the end of June, according to Cointelegraph's Nov. 11 reporting. The 48% rise refers to shares held, while the reported dollar value more than doubled.

Citi's FBTC position totals 1,636,387 shares valued at $118.87 million, and no matching FBTC entry appears in its June-quarter table. Its IBIT holding grew by 174,030 shares, or approximately 50.1%, to 521,144 shares worth $24.67 million.

Options disclosures leave trading strategies open

Barclays reported IBIT calls covering 8,479,800 underlying shares and puts covering 8,169,700 shares. Citi listed calls covering 400,000 shares and puts covering 505,000 shares, below the June figures of 2.91 million and 1.6 million.

However, the banks' tables do not explain whether individual positions support customer activity, market making or proprietary investment strategies. Under SEC guidance, managers report long positions without subtracting short positions, so the filings do not provide a complete account of offsetting trades.

November withdrawals followed the September snapshot

The quarter-end positions were recorded before the latest stretch of withdrawals from U.S. funds. Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.28 billion during Nov. 2-6, and IBIT accounted for $1.21 billion of that total.

Separately, Deutsche Bank's crypto custody service launched for paying institutional and corporate clients in Europe on Nov. 11, according to Reuters. It supports bitcoin, ether, USDC, EURC and EURAU, and retail customers are outside the initial offering.

Source: crypto.news

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