Capula Management, Europe’s fourth-largest hedge fund, purchased over $464 million in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the second quarter of 2024, according to an Aug. 5 US Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filing.

The filings showed that Capula holds 4,022,346 shares in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC), valued at approximately $211 million. The firm also owns 7,419,208 shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin fund, amounting to $253 million.

13F filings are quarterly reports that institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets submit to the SEC. These reports disclose long positions in US equities and options on equities but do not reveal short positions, thus providing a partial view of an investment manager’s portfolio.

Capula’s disclosure adds to a growing trend of institutional investors showing interest in the US spot Bitcoin ETFs. Last month, the State of Michigan Retirement System reported a $6.6 million stake in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) in its 13F filing.

Capula Investment Management LLP is a British hedge fund with approximately $30 billion in assets under management as of 2024.

Interest in Bitcoin ETFs

Institutional interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs remains strong despite BTC’s significant drop to a six-month low of under $50,000 before recovering to over $54,000 as of press time.

Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s ETF analyst, stated that the trading volumes for the investment products indicated robust community engagement, with around $2.5 billion traded during the market’s opening hours.

However, he pointed out that the high trading volume on down days can signal market fear, but at the same time, it reflects the liquidity that traders and institutions value in ETFs. He said:

He said:

“If you [are a] Bitcoin bull you actually DONT want to see crazy volume today as ETF volume on bad days is a pretty reliable measure of fear. On flip, deep liquidity on bad days is part of what traders and institutions love about ETFs, so you also want to see volume too, good for the long term.”