Filings showed $16.3B in Bitcoin fund positions. BlackRock still held the center.
The second-quarter 13F tape was not a clean exit story. It was a sorting story, with sovereign holders sitting still and banks changing how they held exposure.
CryptoVibe Desk · bitcoin · etfs · 13f
- →CryptoSlate tracked $16.3B in Bitcoin ETF-linked positions in Q2 filings through Aug. 14, based on June 30 snapshots.
- →The weak flow backdrop matters because large holders did not all leave, even after $4.89B of Q2 net outflows.
- →Watch the next 13F deadline in November 2026 for whether Morgan Stanley keeps building its internal Bitcoin Trust row.
- 13F → A 13F is a quarterly SEC filing that shows certain large U.S. investment positions after the quarter ends.
- IBIT → IBIT is BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, a fund that tracks Bitcoin without making buyers hold coins directly.
- Call option → A call option is a contract that gains value when the linked asset rises above a set price.
CryptoSlate tracked $16.3B in Bitcoin ETF-linked positions as of June 30. The filings landed through Aug. 14. The number matters because Q2 was not friendly to flows.
CryptoSlate said Bitcoin ETFs saw $4.89B of net outflows during Q2. The final five June trading sessions alone lost $2.06B. That should have made the 13F tape look simple. It didn't.
The filing pattern was mixed, not bearish. Mubadala kept 14,721,917 IBIT shares unchanged from March 31, per CryptoSlate's filing review. Abu Dhabi Investment Council kept 8,218,712 IBIT shares unchanged too. Two sovereign holders sat still while the flow tape went red.
JPMorgan moved the other way. CryptoSlate said JPMorgan's spot Bitcoin ETF shares rose to 10,623,591 as of June 30, up from 8,462,883. That is ordinary fund exposure, not a mystery wrapper.
UBS changed the shape of its disclosed options book. Its IBIT call underlying equivalents rose to 1,950,000 from 80,000, according to CryptoSlate. The filing does not show the full hedge. A 13F can show long options, but it omits shorts and written options.
Morgan Stanley is the messy line. CryptoSlate said its external spot-ETF holdings fell to 18,636,055 units, down 775,301. The same review also found 2,570,627 reported shares in Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. CryptoSlate cautioned that this does not prove a transfer between products.
If you're reading ETF flows like a live vote on Bitcoin, this is the catch. The cash left the products in Q2, but some large holders kept exposure or changed the wrapper. The tape matches the story only if you separate flows from quarter-end positions.
The number to watch is Morgan Stanley's internal trust line next quarter. If it grows again while external ETF units fall, the story becomes consolidation inside the bank stack, not just investors leaving Bitcoin funds.
Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin Trust row makes the Q2 tape harder to read. Cutting 775,301 external spot-ETF units did not mean a clean exit because 13F snapshots do not show the hedge book.
By the next 13F deadline in November 2026, watch whether Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin Trust row rises above 2,570,627 shares while external spot-ETF units fall again.
Primary links and supporting reads used by the desk for this story.
- filingSEC EDGAR filings for UBS Group AG
- filingSEC EDGAR filings for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- filingSEC EDGAR filings for Morgan Stanley
- filingSEC EDGAR filings for Mubadala Investment Co PJSC
- filingSEC EDGAR filings for Abu Dhabi Investment Council Co P.J.S.C
- CryptoSlate analysis of Q2 Bitcoin ETF 13F position patterns
- CoinDesk weekly roundup mentioning mixed Bitcoin holder signals
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