• Quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group accumulated more than $1 billion worth of GBTC and other Bitcoin ETF shares during the first quarter of 2024.
• The surge in Bitcoin ETF investments by firms like Susquehanna highlights the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in traditional finance.

The U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF witnessed a strong inflow during the initial three months of launch. In the latest 13F-HR filing submitted on Tuesday, May 7, quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group revealed that they purchased more than $1 billion worth of shares of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Q1 2024.

In their disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Susquehanna disclosed its ownership of 17,271,326 shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), valued at $1.09 billion as of March 31, 2024. Additionally, the trading firm reported ownership of 1,349,414 shares of the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) worth nearly $84 million.

Susquehanna International Group also revealed that it increased its stake in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), allowing investors to gain exposure to bitcoin futures contracts.

According to investment research firm Fintel, as of March 31, Susquehanna owned 7,907,827 shares of BITO, valued at about $255.42 million. This marked a 57.59% increase from a February filing, which reported 5,021,149 shares.

Susquehanna also had indirect exposure to Bitcoin’s spot price through its holdings in MicroStrategy stock (MSTR), which possesses 214,400 BTC. However, during portfolio rebalancing, Susquehanna reduced its stake in MicroStrategy by nearly 15%, decreasing from 287,180 shares in February to 244,863 shares by March 31.

However, these investments in Bitcoin ETf are minuscule in comparison to the $575.8 billion portfolio of the trading firm by the end of the first quarter.

The Growing Demand for Bitcoin ETFs

Trading firms and financial advisers are turning to Bitcoin ETFs as a means to tap into the digital asset market, per the Crypto News Flash report. In April, Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF received a $40 million investment from two traditional financial advisers, Legacy Wealth Management and United Capital Management of Kansas. Each adviser allocated $20 million to FBTC, becoming significant shareholders in the fund.

These advisers hold sway among a considerable segment of baby boomers, who possess a substantial portion of the nation’s wealth. Legacy Wealth Management manages assets surpassing $359 million, while United Capital Management of Kansas oversees assets totaling over $436 million.

The U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs are fiercely competing with global BTC ETPs, having accumulated over 827,000 BTC from the market since their launch in January this year. Meanwhile, global Bitcoin ETPs boast an immense reserve of more than 931,000 BTC.

As per recent disclosures, the 11 newly introduced U.S. Bitcoin ETFs hold a combined reserve of 827,321 BTC. Leading the pack is Grayscale’s GBTC ETF with 291,815 BTC, although this is less than 50% of the 619,000 BTC reserve it had during its debut. Following closely behind is BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) with 274,320 BTC, a substantial increase from its initial holding of 225 BTC.

Following the success in the U.S., other jurisdictions like South Korea are also planning to introduce Bitcoin ETFs by June, reported Crypto News Flash.