Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan both increased their exposure to spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in the second quarter, according to separate Form 13F filings with the SEC. Morgan Stanley's BlackRock Bitcoin ETF holdings rose 23%, while JPMorgan's climbed 25%; both banks' Ether ETF positions grew even more sharply.
Two banks raise their Bitcoin ETF bets
Morgan Stanley's reported holdings in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) rose 23% to about 16.5 million shares in the second quarter, up from 13.4 million, according to its Q2 13F filing with the SEC filed Thursday. JPMorgan's IBIT position increased about 25% to roughly 10.4 million shares, up from 8.3 million in the first quarter, according to its own filing.
Despite adding about 3.04 million IBIT shares, Morgan Stanley's position value fell about 18% to $549 million from $667 million as Bitcoin fell during the quarter. JPMorgan's IBIT stake was valued at roughly $356 million as of June 30.
Ether positions grow faster than Bitcoin
Both banks increased their Ether ETF exposure more sharply than their Bitcoin ETF exposure. Morgan Stanley's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) position climbed about 202% to 4.6 million shares. JPMorgan's ETHA position more than quadrupled to about 1.17 million shares from roughly 267,000.
Analyst cautions against reading too much into the filings
Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at PrimeXBT, told Cointelegraph that a Form 13F filing can combine holdings from different parts of an institutional investor, including positions tied to client activity, and excludes short positions — so the reported long holdings do not show a bank's net exposure.
JPMorgan also reported new XRP positions in the second quarter: 181 shares of Grayscale's XRP product worth $3,763 and 113 shares of Bitwise's XRP ETF worth $1,356, after holding none in the first quarter. Randin linked the timing to regulatory developments around XRP. According to Cointelegraph: "From my point of view this adds credibility to the regulatory improvements surrounding XRP", he said.
Miners see mixed treatment
Morgan Stanley added to several Bitcoin mining stocks, including Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8 and Bitdeer Technologies, while cutting its Coinbase position by about 550,000 shares and fully exiting a roughly 8 million-share stake in Bitfarms. JPMorgan also cut positions in several Bitcoin miners. Randin said the companies have become less straightforward proxies for Bitcoin as some expand into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Sources: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Morgan Stanley 13F), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (JPMorgan 13F)
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