Despite declining Bitcoin prices and a challenging market environment, institutional ownership of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs increased last quarter.

Institutional ownership of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs rose to 24% by the end of the second quarter of 2024, according to analysts from H.C. Wainwright. This is up from 21.4% in the prior quarter, according to newly released 13-F filings and data aggregated by Coinbase. 

This growth occurred despite a challenging market environment that saw the total assets under management for these ETFs drop 13% quarter-over-quarter to $51.8 billion, driven by declining Bitcoin (BTC) prices.

Among the most notable new institutional investors were Goldman Sachs, with $412 million in ETF shares, and Morgan Stanley, with $188 million, though a portion of these assets is likely held for clients.

Bitcoin ETF inflows

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a significant inflow of $61.98 million on Aug. 19, led by BlackRock’s IBIT with $92.7 million. This was despite some ETFs like Bitwise’s BITB and Invesco Galaxy’s BTCO experiencing outflows. The total cumulative inflows for Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed $17.4 billion.

Investment advisors now account for 36.6% of total institutional holdings in spot Bitcoin ETFs, up from 29.8% in the first quarter, while hedge fund holdings decreased to 30.5% from 37.7%.

Despite these market fluctuations, spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $2.4 billion in net inflows during the quarter, signaling sustained institutional interest in the crypto space.