Hedge funds and banks sold $68,000 BTC in spot ETF exposure as the cash-and-carry trade collapsed, while sovereign funds and wealth platforms accumulated.
Macro & Markets ·
Nine institutional investors—including Millennium Management, Goldman Sachs, and Tudor Investment—divested 68,000 BTC in spot Bitcoin ETF exposure between September 2025 and June 2026, accounting for nearly the entire 48,000 BTC net decline across all filers during the period. The sellers included hedge funds and banks, while wealth platforms and sovereign funds such as Morgan Stanley's wealth arm and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Council accumulated positions.
The exits reflected market mechanics rather than conviction on Bitcoin itself. These institutions had deployed a cash-and-carry strategy, purchasing spot ETF shares while shorting futures to capture the basis—the spread between spot and futures prices. That spread compressed sharply, from an annualized 7.9% in the 30 days before Bitcoin's September 2025 peak to just 4.8% by mid-October, leaving roughly 0.6 percentage points above three-month Treasury bills after costs. Galaxy Research noted the arbitrage no longer justified the risks and expenses.
The shift revealed different investor appetites in institutional Bitcoin exposure. The nine sellers reduced holdings by 29% to 100% each, while the broader population of roughly 2,200 institutional filers added approximately 20,000 BTC collectively. Non-filer wealth advisers and family offices pared positions by only 6.6% despite Bitcoin falling 49%, suggesting longer-term holders stood pat as traders repositioned.