May 15 is the statutory deadline for institutional investors to file their Q1 13F forms with the U.S. SEC,and as filings are gradually disclosed, the cryptocurrency holdings of major Wall Street institutions are coming into view.
Among them,JPMorgan increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings by 174% against the trend, while Jane Street cut its IBIT position by 71% and shifted toward Ethereum; Wells Fargo built up its Ethereum ETF position despite the downturn, and BlackRock’s on-chain portfolio lost over $20 billion in market value yet continued buying Bitcoin.
In the first quarter of this year, the crypto market experienced a significant correction. Bitcoin posted a quarterly decline of approximately 23.8%, marking its worst quarter since 2018. The total crypto market cap fell by 20.4%, retreating about 45% from its peak in October 2025. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of approximately $970 million for the quarter.,According to JPMorgan analysis, overall capital inflows into digital assets in Q1 amounted to only about $11 billion, roughly one-third of the same period last year.,Market momentum has clearly slowed.
In this market environment, institutional activities show significant differences.
Jane Street:IBIT position decreased by 71%,added to Galaxy Digital
As one of Wall Street’s most active proprietary trading firms, Jane Street’s first-quarter activities drew the most market attention.
According to its latest 13F filing, Jane Street significantly reduced its holdings in Bitcoin ETFs.Among these,,its stake in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) declined by approximately 71% month-over-month to about 5.9 million shares, valued at around $225 million; its position in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) was cut by about 60% to approximately 2 million shares.
On the other hand, Jane Street has significantly increased its allocation to Ethereum. The BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) nearly doubled its holdings, and Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) also substantially increased its position, combining for approximately $82 million in new exposure.
In terms of cryptocurrency-related stocks, Galaxy Digital’s position increased sharply from approximately 170,000 shares to about 1.5 million shares, Riot Platforms’ holdings rose from around 5 million shares to approximately 7.4 million shares, and Coinbase also made a modest increase. However, its position in Strategy decreased from about 968,000 shares to roughly 210,000 shares, a reduction of approximately 78%. Holdings in several Bitcoin mining companies also contracted simultaneously, including IREN, Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, and Core Scientific.
It should be noted that Jane Street recorded a record $16.1 billion in trading revenue for Q1. The 13F discloses only long positions at quarter-end and excludes derivatives and short positions. Bitwise analyst Jeff Park pointed out that in previous quarters, Jane Street significantly increased its Strategy holdings by over 470%; this quarter’s reduction is more likely due to the unwinding of basis trades rather than a directional bearish view on Bitcoin.
JPMorgan:significantlyincreased its position in BitcoinETF,fully exited its XRP ETF
In contrast to Jane Street, JPMorgan continued to increase its holdings during the period when Bitcoin’s price briefly fell below $80,000, raising its IBIT position from approximately 3 million shares to about 8.3 million shares—an increase of roughly 174%, adding approximately $162 million in market value.
In addition,the fundhas seen a roughly 900% increase in Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), a 450% increase in Fidelity’s FBTC, and over a 3000% increase in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which tracks Bitcoin futures.
Regarding other crypto assets, JPMorgan made its first position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), purchasing approximately 47,500 shares, and increased its holdings in the BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) by about 36%. Meanwhile, the bank fully exited its position in the Bitwise XRP ETF.
At the stock level, JPMorgan chose to increase positions in Strategy, MARA Holdings, and Core Scientific, while reducing positions in Coinbase, Galaxy Digital, and Robinhood.
Wells Fargo:increased its positionin EthereumETF,almost liquidatedits Galaxy Digital holdings
Wells Fargo’s operations also show clear internal differentiation.
On the Ethereum front, BlackRock’s ETHA holding increased from approximately 673,000 to about 1.1 million shares, a rise of roughly 63.5%; Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) added approximately 37%, bringing the combined holding value to around $21.5 million. This increase occurred against the backdrop of Ethereum’s two consecutive quarterly declines, with a 28% drop in Q4 2025 and another 29% decline in Q1 2026, alongside a quarterly net outflow of approximately $769 million from Ethereum spot ETFs.
Regarding Bitcoin, Wells Fargo’s positioning is diversified. IBIT saw a slight reduction, while the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF increased its position by approximately 24% and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust increased by about 41%. Bitcoin ETFs remain the primary component of its crypto exposure, with IBIT’s individual holding valued at approximately $250 million.
At the stock level, Wells Fargo increased its Strategy position from approximately 323,000 shares to approximately 726,000 shares, an increase of about 125%, adding approximately $41.6 million in exposure. During the same period, Galaxy Digital’s position dropped sharply from approximately 2.5 million shares to approximately 78,600 shares, a decline of about 97%, reducing exposure by approximately $54.7 million.
BlackRock: Increasing positions in Strategy and Bitmine, with continued on-chain Bitcoin purchases
As the world’s largest asset management company, BlackRock’s Q1 13F filing shows it holds a significant position in crypto-related stocks.
Among them,Coinbase (COIN) holds approximately 16.75 million shares, with a market value of about $2.92 billion, representing a slight reduction of about 333,000 shares from the previous quarter; Circle (CRCL) holds approximately 5.06 million shares, with a market value of about $483 million, reducing its position by approximately 615,000 shares.
Strategy (MSTR) increased its holdings to approximately 17.75 million shares, with a market value of about $2.22 billion, adding approximately 3.147 million shares; Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) increased its holdings to approximately 11.08 million shares, with a market value of about $219 million, adding approximately 2.029 million shares.
The combined market capitalization of the four amounts to approximately $5.8 billion; although this represents a small portion of its total holdings of about $5.72 trillion, the synchronized increases by Strategy and Bitmine indicate that BlackRock continues to recognize the treasury narrative for both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
On-chain data shows that during Q1, BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings increased from approximately 770,000 to about 785,000 BTC, with a net purchase of around 15,000 BTC; however, due to price declines, the market value fell from approximately $68 billion to about $51.8 billion. Ethereum holdings decreased from approximately 3.47 million to about 3.06 million ETH, with a net outflow of around 410,000 ETH. The overall market value of BlackRock’s crypto portfolio shrank by approximately $20.4 billion, primarily driven by price movements.
In addition,IBIT’s average daily trading volume in Q1 exceeded $3.2 billion, with net inflows recorded on 48 of the 62 trading days during the quarter; on January 27, single-day inflows reached approximately $1.3 billion, setting a daily record. However, changes in on-chain holdings essentially reflect customer fund inflows and outflows through the ETF, rather than BlackRock’s own directional bets.
ARK Invest:Heavily invested in Circle, betting on the stablecoin sector
Cathie Wood’s ARK InvestAs the issuer of the ARKB Bitcoin spot ETF, its 13F filing discloses crypto-related stocks held by its active funds.The filing shows that ARK increased its positions in Circle (CRCL), Robinhood (HOOD), Bullish (BLSH), and Bitmine (BMNR) during the first quarter, while slightly reducing its stake in Coinbase (COIN).
In terms of timing, ARK bought approximately $72 million in cryptocurrency-related stocks across its ARKF, ARKK, and ARKW funds in February, when Bitcoin fell to around $75,000, continuing its consistent strategy of buying on dips.
Among , ARK’s position in Circle (CRCL) has significantly increased , with holdings rising to approximately 4.509 million shares, increasing the portfolio allocation from 2.18% to 3.34%. In Q2, ARK continues to increase its CRCL position.
Circle’s recently released Q1 financial report showed a 20% year-over-year revenue growth, with USDC circulation rising to $77 billion and transaction volume increasing by 263% year-over-year, further validating ARK’s bet on the stablecoin sector.
Other institutions have taken various actions.
Other institutions also had highlights. Asset manager WisdomTree launched a tokenized money market fund this quarter, driving $98 million in net inflows into digital assets for Q1, with digital asset assets under management rising to a record $867 million as of March 31.
GrayScale has completed the rebalancing of its funds, introducing the Ethena token (ENA) with a weight of 13.59% into its DeFi fund, while removing Aerodrome Finance; in the smart contract platform fund, Ethereum’s holding weight has increased to 30.14%, surpassing Solana’s 29.69%.
Dongfang Gangwan, managed by Chinese asset manager Dan Bin, disclosed in its latest 13F filing an increase of 31,700 shares of CRCL, with a market value of approximately $3.02 million.
Although Morgan Stanley’s Q1 13F filing has not yet been disclosed, its Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), launched on April 8, has累计净流入 $193.6 million and reached $239.6 million in net assets, with 17 days of net inflows and 5 days of no change in its first month, and no single day of net outflows.
Three Signals for Institutional Crypto Configuration
Reviewing these actions revealsthreekey trends to watch.
First, institutional interest in allocating to Ethereum is increasing. Jane Street, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan all increased their exposure to Ethereum ETFs in Q1, at a time when the market was generally experiencing outflows. This reflects that some institutions are beginning to view it as infrastructure for long-term positioning.
Second, the divergence regarding Bitcoin stems more from strategic differences than from differing judgments. JPMorgan’s systematic accumulation at lower levels represents a classic long-term allocation strategy; Jane Street’s significant reduction, combined with its record quarterly revenue, is more indicative of a trading strategy adjustment.
Third, crypto-related stocks are becoming an unavoidable allocation option for institutions. As companies such as Circle, Coinbase, and Strategy have gone public or continued to expand, these stocks have evolved from marginal assets to core holdings for some institutions. ARK has ranked Circle as the sixth-largest holding in ARKK, and Dongfang Gangwan quickly established a position in Circle following its listing; Circle has risen over 50% year-to-date, and its underlying stablecoin infrastructure logic is gaining increasing recognition from institutions.
There is also clear divergence in the selection of specific assets. Galaxy Digital was the most divisive stock among institutions this quarter—Wells Fargo nearly liquidated its position, reducing holdings by approximately 97%; JPMorgan also reduced its stake simultaneously; however, Jane Street increased its position from about 17,000 shares to approximately 1.5 million shares, effectively building a position from nearly zero. Meanwhile, multiple institutions collectively chose to increase their holdings in Strategy, treating it as a stock proxy for Bitcoin.
Today Q2 is already halfway through, institutions that continued to accumulate at the lows of Q1 are beginning to be validated.
In April, Bitcoin rose approximately 11.87%, and Ethereum increased by about 7.3%. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net inflows of approximately $2.44 billion in April, the highest in nearly six months, with total assets under management surpassing $100 billion for the first time. Among these, BlackRock’s IBIT recorded net inflows of approximately $2.013 billion for the month, while Morgan Stanley’s MSBT saw its first-month net inflows of approximately $194 million. Bitcoin has now reclaimed the $80,000 level, and market risk appetite has shown signs of recovery.
As of press time,the 13F filings of major institutions and hedge funds such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Millennium have not yet been released; they are expected to be disclosed en masse over the next two days, at which point the picture of institutional holdings will become more complete.
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