JPMorgan Adds to Strategy and Bitcoin ETF Holdings as MSCI Exit Looms

JPMorgan Chase expanded its bitcoin-linked exposure in the third quarter, according to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The bank raised its stake in Michael Saylor's Strategy by 36%, to 848,932 shares from 624,387 at June 30, a purchase of 224,545 shares. The position was valued at about $131.3 million at Sept. 30, when Strategy traded near $155. Over the same period, JPMorgan added about 1 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), bringing its holding to 11,408,930 shares, a 9.6% increase. The reported value of the IBIT stake rose 52% to about $540 million from $355.7 million, reflecting both the added shares and price appreciation. Combined, the two positions were worth roughly $671 million at quarter-end.

The filing also showed smaller positions in Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust and Bitwise's Bitcoin ETF, as well as put and call option exposure against both Strategy and IBIT. Beyond its bitcoin-linked holdings, JPMorgan held 1,581,814 Coinbase shares, a stake in Robinhood, and positions in five bitcoin miners: Core Scientific, MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, Hut 8 and CleanSpark.

The disclosure arrives as the position has lost value. Strategy shares closed Thursday at $114.41, down about 6.5% on the day and roughly 26% below end-September levels. At that price, the reported stake would be worth about $97.1 million, roughly $34 million less than at quarter-end. These figures use the Sept. 30 share count, and any subsequent trading will appear in the next quarterly report.

Strategy faces a separate index-driven headwind. MSCI confirmed the company will leave the MSCI USA Index after the Nov. 30 market close and will also be removed from the MSCI World and ACWI benchmarks under new eligibility rules for non-operating companies. Passive funds tracking those indexes generally must rebalance when a constituent is removed. JPMorgan previously estimated the MSCI exclusion alone could generate $2.8 billion of selling, a figure that could increase if other index providers adopt similar criteria.

The broader backdrop is weak. Bitcoin fell 7% over 24 hours to $68,408, its lowest level since Aug. 20, with heavy liquidations concentrated among leveraged longs. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net redemptions of about $299.9 million on Nov. 11, the fifth consecutive negative session, with roughly $269.7 million leaving IBIT. Net outflows over those five sessions reached about $1.44 billion. Hotter-than-expected October consumer price data, released Nov. 10, pushed the 10-year Treasury yield briefly above 5% and strengthened the dollar, conditions that typically weigh on speculative assets. On-chain indicators also point to soft demand: short-term holders' average cost basis sits near $75,600, and stablecoin supply contracted by $14.2 billion over the 30 days through Nov. 9, the fastest pace since June 2022. Binance bitcoin futures open interest fell about 17% to roughly $8.8 billion over about a month. Mining economics have tightened as difficulty rose about 12% to 148.3T between Oct. 4 and Oct. 30 while bitcoin fell about 15%.

The filing shows JPMorgan was a net buyer of bitcoin exposure through September, before the latest decline. Whether that positioning proves well timed will depend on whether passive selling tied to Strategy's MSCI removal outweighs demand from longer-horizon buyers, and on whether spot ETF flows and leverage stabilize.