Hedge Fund Millennium Management has poured nearly $2 billion in bitcoin ETFs as of the first financial quarter.
Millennium Management on March 31 held $1.94 billion in shares of spot bitcoin ETFs, spread out across five funds: ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC). However, the fair market value of those shares made up just 3% of the hedge fund's $64 billion in assets under management, according to its quarterly 13F filing with U.S. securities regulators.
The fund, founded and helmed by Wall Street legend Israel Englander, held roughly $844 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) — its largest spot bitcoin ETF allocation — as of the three-month period ending in March. It also held a more than $800 million stake in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), as well as roughly $202 million worth of shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), and roughly $45 million worth of shares in both ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) ARKB and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (BITB).
Millennium Management is one of several investment firms to embrace spot bitcoin ETFs, as institutional investors flock to the crypto-based funds. Other notable investors in the funds include Apollo Management and Elliott Capital.