Key Takeaways
- • Citigroup disclosed a new position of 1.64 million shares in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, valued at about $118.9 million as of Sept. 30, according to its Form 13F filing.
- • Citi also held 521,144 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), worth about $24.7 million, up roughly 50% from 347,114 shares at the end of June, for total disclosed direct holdings of about $143.5 million across the two Bitcoin ETFs.
- • Barclays increased its reported IBIT holdings by 48% to 3.94 million shares (about $186.7 million) in Q3, up from 2.66 million shares at the end of June.
- • Share-count changes are a more reliable signal than dollar values, because IBIT's Q3 price appreciation inflated reported values; 13F filings also omit short positions and hedges.
- • The September filings predate a Q4 selloff, including $213.2 million of IBIT redemptions on Nov. 9, so Q4 filings will show whether these positions were held.
Summary
Citigroup reported a new position of 1.64 million shares in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, valued at approximately $118.9 million as of Sept. 30, according to its latest Form 13F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing also showed 521,144 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), worth about $24.7 million, up roughly 50% from 347,114 shares at the end of June. Together, the direct holdings totaled roughly $143.5 million, excluding Citi's IBIT options positions.
The article notes that Barclays showed a similar pattern. The British bank reported 3.94 million IBIT shares, worth approximately $186.7 million, up 48% from 2.66 million shares at the end of June. The source emphasizes that the share-count increase is more meaningful than the dollar increase, which exceeded 100%, because IBIT appreciated substantially during the quarter. Barclays also disclosed large put and call positions tied to IBIT, so the reported shares cannot be read as a straightforward directional Bitcoin bet. Form 13F filings do not reveal short positions, option strike prices, expirations or hedges.
The article places these bank filings within a broader institutional pattern. University endowments, sovereign funds, hedge funds and trading firms have all appeared in recent 13F disclosures. Harvard retained a $101 million IBIT position in the second quarter, and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Council continued to hold hundreds of millions of dollars of the fund. CoinShares' October fund-manager survey found that diversification accounted for 40% of respondents' reasons for holding digital assets, while speculation represented less than 9%.
The September filings are backward-looking and predate Bitcoin's subsequent decline and renewed outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in the fourth quarter. IBIT recorded $213.2 million of withdrawals on Nov. 9 alone, extending a run of redemptions as Bitcoin traded well below its 2026 highs. The remaining Q3 and Q4 filings will show whether banks and other large investors maintained or expanded these positions after the market reversed.
The article notes that Barclays showed a similar pattern. The British bank reported 3.94 million IBIT shares, worth approximately $186.7 million, up 48% from 2.66 million shares at the end of June. The source emphasizes that the share-count increase is more meaningful than the dollar increase, which exceeded 100%, because IBIT appreciated substantially during the quarter. Barclays also disclosed large put and call positions tied to IBIT, so the reported shares cannot be read as a straightforward directional Bitcoin bet. Form 13F filings do not reveal short positions, option strike prices, expirations or hedges.
The article places these bank filings within a broader institutional pattern. University endowments, sovereign funds, hedge funds and trading firms have all appeared in recent 13F disclosures. Harvard retained a $101 million IBIT position in the second quarter, and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Council continued to hold hundreds of millions of dollars of the fund. CoinShares' October fund-manager survey found that diversification accounted for 40% of respondents' reasons for holding digital assets, while speculation represented less than 9%.
The September filings are backward-looking and predate Bitcoin's subsequent decline and renewed outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in the fourth quarter. IBIT recorded $213.2 million of withdrawals on Nov. 9 alone, extending a run of redemptions as Bitcoin traded well below its 2026 highs. The remaining Q3 and Q4 filings will show whether banks and other large investors maintained or expanded these positions after the market reversed.
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