Global banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase has disclosed its increased exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency through BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
JPMorgan Held 5.2 Million IBIT At End Q3
In the latest 13-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), JPMorgan disclosed its holding of 5,284,190 IBIT shares, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, as of September 30. This third-quarter figure represents a sharp 64% increase in the firm’s exposure to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
JPMorgan’s IBIT holdings, which were worth about $333 million as of September 30, are now valued at around $312 million. While the bank’s expanded position places it amongst one of the major institutional holders of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, it still sits behind other firms, like Goldman Sachs, with significantly larger holdings. Goldman Sachs disclosed that it held 30.8 million shares of IBIT in the first quarter of 2025.
Furthermore, the filing with the SEC shows that JPMorgan held IBIT call options worth $68 million and put options worth $133 million as of September 30.
The increased investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs is consistent with the bank’s price expectations for the flagship cryptocurrency. In a recent report, strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and his team shared that deleveraging in the crypto derivatives market, especially Bitcoin perpetual futures, appears to be mostly over.
The JPMorgan analysts revealed that the recent rise in gold volatility has made BTC a more attractive investment option on a risk-adjusted basis. Using this gold-based model, the pundits argued that Bitcoin is fairly undervalued compared to gold and could see a significant upward movement to around $170,00 over the next 6 to 12 months.
As of this writing, the price of BTC stands around $102,900, reflecting an over 1% jump in the past 24 hours. However, the premier cryptocurrency is still deep in the red on medium-term timeframes. According to data from CoinGecko, the BTC price is down by more than 6% in the last seven days.
BlackRock’s IBIT Struggles In Recent Weeks
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has somewhat struggled over the past few weeks, registering significant withdrawals in the last two. According to data from SoSoValue, the exchange-traded fund posted a weekly net outflow of over $403 million in the previous week.
Excluding its performance on Friday, November 7, BlackRock’s IBIT looks set to record a weekly net outflow of roughly $450 million. Nevertheless, the iShares Bitcoin Trust still ranks as the largest spot BTC exchange-traded fund with a net asset of $80.58 billion under management.
