Growing institutional interest in Bitcoin is an undeniable fact. Important it is to note that institutional players often engage in the Bitcoin market silently. One such silent engagement was exposed recently, when the Bank of Montreal, Canada’s third-largest bank by asset size, officially declined its massive Bitcoin investment in its Form 13F-HR to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The declaration has once again triggered serious discussions on growing institutional interest in BTC.
BMO’s Big Bitcoin Bet
Every institutional investment manager controlling more than $100 million in the US is required to file a Form 13F-HR to the SEC. It was this requirement that forced the Canadian banking giant to officially confess its extreme interest in Bitcoin.
As per the recent Form 13F-HR filing of BMI, the bank has at least a $150 million investment in the spot Bitcoin ETF market.
A spot Bitcoin ETF tracks the current market price of Bitcoin, offering investors exposure to BTC without directly holding the asset.
Blackrock Leads the Way
The document clearly indicates that a significant portion of the bank’s spot Bitcoin ETF investment is held in Blackrock’s iShare Bitcoin ETF – one of the topmost players in the spot Bitcoin ETF market.
According to the document, the Canadian bank has no less than a $139 million investment in iShares Bitcoin ETF.
Diversifying the Crypto Portfolio
The document also suggests that the bank, to an extent, has succeeded in diversifying its spot Bitcoin ETF investment.
At least $11 million was distributed among other prominent players, Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, as per the document.
Exploring Bitcoin Futures
Importantly, the document also reveals that the bank has even explored the possibility of the Bitcoin futures ETF market.
A Bitcoin futures ETF tracks BTC futures contracts rather than the spot price. Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a future date and price.
BMO’s Form 13F-HR document shows that the bank also has a $17,000 investment in the Proshares Bitcoin ETF, which is a BTC futures ETF.
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Spot Bitcoin ETF Market: An Overview
BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, Grayscale’s GBTC, Ark/21 Shares’s ARKB, Grayscale’s BTC, Bitwise’s BITB, VanEck’ HODL, Valkyrie’s BRRR, Invesco/Galaxy’s BTCO, Franklin Templeton’s EZBC and WisdomTree’s BTCW are the prominent spot BTC ETFs.
Among these, IBIT, FBTC, GBTC, ARKB and BTC are the top five spot Bitcoin ETFs by Asset Under Management.
The AUM of IBIT stands at $57.03B; FBTC at $20.57B; GBTC at $19.44B; ARKB at $4.94B; and BTC at $4.07B.
It is clear that BMO primarily focuses on the top players of the spot BTC ETF market.
Importantly, ProShares’ BITO, with an AUM opf $2.76B, is the topmost player in the Bitcoin futures ETF market.
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