Q1 Wall Street institutional holdings revealed: Jane Street's Bitcoin ETF position sharply reduced by 71%, while JPMorgan increased its holdings by as much as 174%

Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

May 15 is the statutory deadline for institutional investors in the U.S. to submit their Q1 13F forms as required by the SEC. As the documents are gradually made public, the cryptocurrency holdings of major Wall Street institutions are coming to light.

Among them, JPMorgan increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings by 174% against the trend, while Jane Street cut its IBIT holdings by 71% and shifted towards Ethereum. Wells Fargo increased its Ethereum ETF holdings despite a downturn, and BlackRock's on-chain portfolio shrank by over $20 billion but continued to buy Bitcoin.

In the first quarter of this year, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant adjustment. Bitcoin's quarterly cumulative decline was about 23.8%, marking the worst quarterly performance since 2018. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell by 20.4%, down about 45% from the peak in October 2025.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net outflow of about $497 million for the entire quarter. JPMorgan's analysis shows that the overall inflow of funds into digital assets in Q1 was only about $11 billion, only about one-third of the same period last year, indicating a significant slowdown in market momentum.

In such a market environment, the operations of institutions show significant differences.

Jane Street: IBIT Holdings Down 71%, Increased Position in Galaxy Digital

As one of Wall Street's most active proprietary traders, Jane Street's operations in Q1 attracted significant market attention.

According to its latest 13F filing, Jane Street drastically reduced its Bitcoin ETF holdings. Specifically, its holdings in BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) decreased by about 71% to approximately 5.9 million shares, valued at about $225 million; Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) was cut by about 60% to approximately 2 million shares.

On the other hand, Jane Street significantly increased its allocation to Ethereum. Its holdings in BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) nearly doubled, and it also substantially increased its position in Fidelity's Ethereum Fund (FETH), adding about $82 million in exposure.

In terms of cryptocurrency-related stocks, Galaxy Digital surged from about 17,000 shares to approximately 1.5 million shares, Riot Platforms' holdings increased from about 5 million shares to approximately 7.4 million shares, and Coinbase also saw a slight increase. Its position in Strategy decreased from about 968,000 shares to approximately 210,000 shares, a reduction of about 78%. Several Bitcoin mining companies also reduced their holdings, including IREN, Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, and Core Scientific.

It should be noted that Jane Street recorded a record trading revenue of $16.1 billion in Q1. The 13F only discloses long positions at the end of the quarter and does not include derivatives or short positions. Bitwise analyst Jeff Park pointed out that Jane Street had previously increased its Strategy holdings by over 470% in a prior quarter, and the reduction this quarter is more likely a closure of basis trades rather than a directional bearish view on Bitcoin.

JPMorgan: Significantly Increased Bitcoin ETF Holdings, Cleared XRP ETF

In contrast to Jane Street, JPMorgan continued to increase its holdings during the period when Bitcoin's price briefly fell below $80,000, with IBIT holdings rising from about 3 million shares to approximately 8.3 million shares, an increase of about 174%, adding about $162 million in market value.

Additionally, the bank's increase in Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) was about 900%, Fidelity's FBTC increased by about 450%, and the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which tracks Bitcoin futures, saw an increase of over 3000%.

In terms of other crypto assets, JPMorgan established a position in Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) for the first time, buying about 47,500 shares, and increased its holdings in BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) by about 36%. Meanwhile, the bank completely cleared its position in Bitwise XRP ETF.

On the stock side, JPMorgan chose to increase its positions in Strategy, MARA Holdings, and Core Scientific while reducing its holdings in Coinbase, Galaxy Digital, and Robinhood.

Wells Fargo: Increased Position in Ethereum ETF, Nearly Cleared Galaxy Digital

Wells Fargo's operations also showed significant internal differentiation.

In terms of Ethereum, its holdings in BlackRock ETHA increased from about 673,000 shares to approximately 1.1 million shares, an increase of about 63.5%; Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) increased by about 37%, with the combined holdings valued at about $21.5 million. This increase occurred against the backdrop of Ethereum's consecutive two-quarter decline, with Q4 2025 down about 28% and Q1 2026 down about 29%, and a quarterly net outflow of about $769 million from the Ethereum spot ETF.

Regarding Bitcoin, Wells Fargo's layout was relatively diversified. IBIT saw a slight reduction, but Bitwise Bitcoin ETF increased by about 24%, and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust increased by about 41%. The Bitcoin ETF overall remains the main component of its crypto exposure, with IBIT's individual holdings valued at about $250 million.

On the stock side, Wells Fargo increased its holdings in Strategy from about 323,000 shares to approximately 726,000 shares, an increase of about 125%, adding about $41.6 million in exposure. During the same period, Galaxy Digital's holdings plummeted from about 2.5 million shares to approximately 78,600 shares, a decrease of about 97%, reducing exposure by about $54.7 million.

BlackRock: Increased Holdings in Strategy and Bitmine, Continued Buying of On-Chain Bitcoin

As the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock's Q1 13F filing shows it holds a significant amount of cryptocurrency-related stocks.

Among them, Coinbase (COIN) held about 16.75 million shares, valued at about $2.92 billion, with a slight reduction of about 333,000 shares compared to the previous quarter; Circle (CRCL) held about 5.06 million shares, valued at about $483 million, with a reduction of about 615,000 shares.

Strategy (MSTR) holdings increased to about 17.75 million shares, valued at about $2.22 billion, with an increase of about 3.147 million shares; the Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) increased its holdings to about 11.08 million shares, valued at about $219 million, with an increase of about 2.029 million shares.

The total market value of these four holdings is about $5.8 billion. Although this represents a limited proportion of its total holdings of about $57.2 trillion, the simultaneous increase in Strategy and Bitmine shows that BlackRock maintains recognition of both Bitcoin and Ethereum treasury narratives.

In terms of on-chain data, during Q1, BlackRock's Bitcoin holdings increased from about 770,000 to about 785,000, with a net purchase of about 15,000, but due to price declines, the market value fell from about $68 billion to about $51.8 billion. Ethereum holdings decreased from about 3.47 million to about 3.06 million, with a net outflow of about 410,000, resulting in an overall shrinkage of about $20.4 billion in the crypto portfolio, mainly driven by price.

Additionally, IBIT's average daily trading volume in Q1 exceeded $3.2 billion, with net inflows recorded on 48 out of 62 trading days in the quarter. On January 27, a single day saw an inflow of about $1.3 billion, setting a daily record. However, changes in on-chain holdings essentially reflect the inflow and outflow of client funds through ETFs, rather than BlackRock's own directional bets.

ARK Invest: Heavy Investment in Circle Betting on Stablecoin Sector

ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood and the issuer of the ARKB Bitcoin spot ETF, disclosed its holdings of cryptocurrency-related stocks in its 13F. The document shows that ARK increased its holdings in Circle (CRCL), Robinhood (HOOD), Bullish (BLSH), and Bitmine (BMNR) in Q1, while slightly reducing its holdings in Coinbase (COIN).

In terms of operational rhythm, ARK bought about $72 million in cryptocurrency-related stocks across its ARKF, ARKK, and ARKW funds when Bitcoin fell to around $75,000 in February, continuing its consistent strategy of buying on dips.

Among them, ARK's bet on Circle (CRCL) was significantly increased, with holdings rising to about 4.509 million shares, increasing its portfolio proportion from 2.18% to 3.34%. In Q2, ARK continues to increase its holdings in CRCL.

Circle's recently released Q1 financial report showed a year-on-year revenue growth of 20%, with USDC circulation rising to $77 billion and trading volume increasing by 263%, further validating ARK's bet on the stablecoin sector.

Other Institutions Taking Action

Other institutions also have highlights. Asset management company WisdomTree launched a tokenized money market fund this quarter, driving a net inflow of $98 million into digital assets in Q1, bringing the total assets under management in digital assets to a record $867 million by the end of March.

Grayscale completed the rebalancing of its funds, introducing the Ethena token (ENA) into its DeFi fund with a weight of 13.59%, while removing Aerodrome Finance; in the smart contract platform fund, Ethereum's holding weight increased to 30.14%, surpassing Solana's 29.69%.

Chinese asset manager Dan Bin's Dongfang Hongyuan disclosed in its latest 13F an increase of 31,700 shares of CRCL, valued at about $3.02 million.

Morgan Stanley has not yet disclosed its Q1 13F, but its Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), launched on April 8, has seen a cumulative net inflow of $193.6 million, with net assets reaching $239.6 million, recording net inflows on 17 trading days in the first month and flat on 5 trading days, with no single day of net outflow.

Three Major Signals of Institutional Crypto Allocation

Reviewing these operations, three noteworthy trends can be observed.

First, institutional interest in Ethereum allocation is increasing. Jane Street, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan all increased their exposure to Ethereum ETFs in Q1, coinciding with a period of general market outflows. This reflects that some institutions are beginning to view it as infrastructure for long-term layout.

Second, the divergence regarding Bitcoin stems more from strategic differences than from judgment differences. JPMorgan's systematic accumulation at low levels is a typical long-term allocation path; Jane Street's significant reduction, combined with its record quarterly revenue, is more akin to an adjustment in trading strategy.

Third, cryptocurrency-related stocks are becoming an unavoidable allocation option for institutions. With companies like Circle, Coinbase, and Strategy going public or continuing to expand, these stocks have evolved from marginal targets to core holdings for some institutions. ARK lists Circle as its sixth-largest holding, and Dongfang Hongyuan quickly built a position after Circle's listing. Circle has risen over 50% since the beginning of the year, and the underlying logic of its stablecoin infrastructure is gaining recognition from more institutions.

In terms of specific target selection, the differentiation is also evident. Galaxy Digital is the most divergent target among institutions this quarter—Wells Fargo nearly cleared its position, reducing by about 97%; JPMorgan also reduced its holdings; but Jane Street increased its holdings from about 17,000 shares to approximately 1.5 million shares, almost starting from scratch. Meanwhile, multiple institutions have chosen to increase their holdings in Strategy, using it as a proxy for Bitcoin stocks.

Now that Q2 is already more than halfway through, those institutions that continued to accumulate at low levels in Q1 are beginning to see validation.

In April, Bitcoin rose about 11.87%, and Ethereum rose about 7.3%. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net inflow of about $2.44 billion in April, reaching a near six-month high, with total assets under management surpassing $100 billion for the first time. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT saw a net inflow of about $2.013 billion in a single month, and Morgan Stanley's MSBT saw a net inflow of about $194 million in its first month. Currently, Bitcoin has returned above $80,000, and market risk appetite has somewhat recovered.

As of the time of writing, the 13F filings of large institutions and hedge funds such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Millennium have not yet been released, but are expected to be disclosed in the next couple of days, at which point the picture of institutional holding differentiation will be more complete.