Newsletter

• JPMorgan's third-quarter 13F filing shows that as of September 30, the bank held approximately $981 million in spot Bitcoin ETF, Strategy, and Coinbase related positions, close to $1 billion; if Robinhood and Bitcoin miner holdings are included, the total size may have exceeded $1 billion.
• The largest portion of this is BlackRock’s IBIT, with a scale of 540 million US dollars; the same entity also increased its holding of Strategy by 36%, to 848,932 shares.
• However, this snapshot dates back to a period of weaker market conditions; in the recent 5 days, spot Bitcoin ETF has seen a net outflow of $1.4 billion.

Regulatory documents show that although JPMorgan Chase's CEO has been downplaying cryptocurrencies for many years, after increasing its exposure to them in the third quarter, the bank now holds nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency-related stocks and funds.

According to the summary of JPMorgan's quarterly 13F disclosure, this table is a document that large institutional managers are required to submit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for reporting their positions. As of September 30, the bank held approximately $981 million in spot Bitcoin ETF, positions related to Michael Saylor's Strategy, as well as those related to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

If we also take into account its holdings in Robinhood and Bitcoin miners, the total amount is likely to have exceeded $1 billion.

The largest position is held by BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust, which is also IBIT. JPMorgan Chase reported holding 11,408,930 shares, valued at approximately $540 million, representing a 9.6% increase from the previous quarter's holdings; the valuation of this portion of the portfolio in the last quarter was about $356 million. The bank also holds smaller positions in Grayscale and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, bringing its total spot Bitcoin ETF exposure to around $549 million.

This entry further increased its stake in Strategy, which is known as a "Bitcoin vault company," by 36% to 848,932 shares, up from 624,387 shares at the end of June. The value of this portion of the holdings is approximately $131.3 million, higher than the $57.9 million in the previous quarter, reflecting the dual impact of the increased shareholding and the rise in the stock price of Strategy during this period.

In addition, JPMorgan Chase also holds approximately $301 million in shares of Coinbase, which constitutes another part of its core holdings; it also holds positions in mining companies such as Robinhood as well as Core Scientific and Hut. JPMorgan Chase has also disclosed large option positions related to IBIT and Strategy.

However, the 13F filing of this company only provides a snapshot of positions as of September 30th and does not reflect any subsequent changes, nor does it necessarily indicate a directional bet. Banks typically hold such positions for hedging purposes or to facilitate customer transactions, rather than simply betting on price trends. Therefore, this figure of nearly $1 billion is more appropriately understood as an indication of JPMorgan's scale of activity in the crypto market, rather than a clear bullish stance.

It is particularly important to consider that CEO Jamie Dimon has described Bitcoin as " worthless" and compared cryptocurrencies to a scam; at the same time, the bank he leads continues to expand its digital assets business.

These services have expanded rapidly. JPMorgan Chase recently issued its first Bitcoin price forecast for the first time, launched a deposit token called JPM Coin that is linked to the bank's US dollar deposits and runs on Ethereum, and has also explored tokenized stocks in collaboration with BlackRock and the American Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

At the time of this disclosure, Bitcoin funds are going through a difficult period. In the past 5 days, there has been a net outflow of over $1.4 billion in spot Bitcoin ETF, due to investors reducing their risk exposure. This also serves as a reminder to the market that the institutional demand reflected in JPMorgan Chase's September position snapshot has since cooled down.

The trading level of Bitcoin at the end of the quarter roughly corresponded to the level of approximately $155 per share as indicated by Strategy; since then, it has fallen significantly from that high point, and the current trading price is below $69,000.

Credit: Report by Decrypt.