47 Institutions Hold GBTC: Which Other Institutions and Companies Are Investing in Bitcoin Besides Grayscale?

On February 23, 2021, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attended a Senate hearing and once again reaffirmed the loose monetary policy stance, keeping interest rates close to 0 until full employment is achieved and inflation rises to 2%, with expectations to moderately exceed 2% for some time. On February 22, Bitcoin experienced an intraday drop of $10,000. During Bitcoin's sharp decline, Tesla stock also plummeted over 8%, and the Nasdaq index fell over 2%. Many voices in the market claimed "Bitcoin crashed Tesla stock, Tesla crashed the US stock market, so the Fed dares not turn off the tap."

In the past six months, Bitcoin's price has nearly increased more than fivefold. Regarding this market pattern of Bitcoin's sustained surge, there is almost no controversy that this is an "institution-led bull market." Additionally, another major reason that cannot be ignored is the rise in inflation expectations, and high inflation expectations stem from the Fed's unprecedented quantitative easing policy.

Since the beginning of 2021, Bitcoin has continued its strong upward trend.

Attracted by Bitcoin's enormous appreciation potential and investment return rate, Wall Street's attitude toward Bitcoin has significantly changed, and financial giants have developed strong interest. We have already seen signs of this shift: from the second half of last year to this year, Renaissance Technologies' hedge fund, Paul Tudor Jones, and BlackRock have all announced participation in the Bitcoin derivatives market.

The shift in Wall Street's attitude toward Bitcoin has played an important role in promoting Bitcoin's globalization as an asset. With the power of Wall Street funds, Bitcoin's market capitalization once surpassed Facebook and Tesla, ranking sixth among global assets by market value.

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Besides the well-known "whale" Grayscale, many institutions and companies are investing in Bitcoin through various channels and methods. According to currently available public disclosures, OKX Intelligence has compiled a list of renowned institutions and companies holding Bitcoin besides Grayscale. In addition to direct purchases, they primarily participate in the Bitcoin market through ETF funds, crypto derivatives, and other methods.

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1. Grayscale Investments

Grayscale Investments is the world's largest crypto asset management company, currently managing approximately $42.4 billion in assets. As of February 22, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holds 680,081 Bitcoins.

The predecessor of Grayscale Investments was a Bitcoin investment fund under SecondMarket (a private equity trading platform) founded by Barry Silbert. In 2014, Barry Silbert spun off this Bitcoin investment fund from the original company and separately established Grayscale Investments. In 2015, Grayscale Investments was placed under the Digital Currency Group (DCG), a new cryptocurrency group founded by Barry Silbert. Currently, DCG is one of the world's largest Bitcoin and blockchain investment companies. Besides Grayscale, DCG also owns Genesis, Coindesk, and over 150 other blockchain companies.

**Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is Grayscale's largest crypto digital asset trust product, accounting for over 90% of Grayscale's total asset management scale. **Besides the Bitcoin trust, Grayscale Investments has also launched trust funds for ETH, BCH, ETC, LTC, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies, as well as a large-cap index fund containing multiple mainstream coins (Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund). Below is the timeline of Grayscale's product launches:

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Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust has now become a primary method for corporate institutions, individual investors, and family wealth management funds to invest in Bitcoin. Data shows that 47 institutional accounts currently hold 8,977,784 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Among them, Tesla investor ARK Investment is the largest holder of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, holding approximately 7.3 million trust shares.

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Source: Nasdaq

2. ARK Investment Management

According to the 13F holdings report filed on February 12, ARK Investment Management stated that as of December 31, 2020, it owned 7,307,228 shares of GBTC. Calculated at GBTC's price of $48 per share on February 11, the fund amount held by the company exceeds $350 million . In November 2020, the company held 5,170,460 shares of GBTC.

ARK Investment was founded in 2013 by Catherine Wood, known as the "female Warren Buffett." According to the official website of the U.S. Securities and Trading Commission, mainstream institution ARK Investment Management increased its investment in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

ARK has five actively managed ETFs: ARKK, ARKQ, ARKW, ARKG, and ARKF. As early as 2015, ARK's "Next Generation Internet ETF" ARKW invested in GBTC issued by Grayscale Investments. GBTC is ARKW's third-largest holding, accounting for 4.73% of its total funds.

3. Rothschild Investment

On January 26, 2021, according to new documents from the U.S. Securities and Trading Commission (SEC), Rothschild Investment Corporation increased its investment shares in GBTC. According to Form 13F-HR (also known as the Institutional Managers Holdings Report), Rothschild reported owning 30,454 shares of GBTC as of December 31, 2020, while in October 2020 documents, the company disclosed holding 24,500 shares of GBTC.

Rothschild Investment Corporation is a full-service regional brokerage firm founded in 1908 by Monroe Rothschild and his brother-in-law Samuel Karger, headquartered in Chicago. **Currently, Rothschild Company manages $1.27 billion in assets. **In 2017, Rothschild Investment Corporation purchased 539 shares from Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust for the first time.

4. Tudor Investment

In May 2020, Jones announced purchasing Bitcoin through its Tudor BVI Global Fund (founded in 1986, with an annualized return rate of 23% since inception). The purchased Bitcoin assets account for 1%-2% of its investment management scale.

Tudor Investment Corporation is an asset management company founded in 1980 by Paul Tudor Jones II, a pioneer of the modern hedge fund industry and legendary investor. The company has maintained double-digit investment returns for many years. **Currently, Tudor Investment Company still manages approximately $39.66 billion in assets, with Tudor BVI Global Fund accounting for $22.3 billion. **As of April 2020, Paul Tudor Jones's net assets reached $5.3 billion, ranking 320th in the global billionaire rankings.

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5. Ruffer Investment

In mid-December 2020, Ruffer Investment told Coindesk that the company's total investment in Bitcoin was approximately £550 million (approximately $744 million), accounting for about 2.7% of the company's assets under management . Calculated at November 2020 prices, Ruffer Investment held approximately 45,000 Bitcoins. According to Ruffer Investment's Investment Director Duncan Mac Innes, the company sold some Bitcoin in the past few months (currently still holding $700 million) and has overall generated a profit of $750 million.

Additionally, according to its issued investment period-end assessment document for the second half of 2020, as of December 31, 2020, the company held slightly over 3% Bitcoin exposure through Ruffer Multi Strategies Fund as well as equity in Microstrategy and Galaxy Digital . This includes holding 4,009 shares of Microstrategy (MSTR) and 350,000 shares of Galaxy Digital (GLXY) respectively.

Ruffer Investment is a UK investment management company founded in 1994 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, with approximately 6,600 clients globally, including individuals and families, pension funds, and charities. According to Ruffer Investment's official website, as of December 31, 2020, the company's assets under management reached $21 billion.

6. SkyBridge Capital

On January 4, 2021, U.S. investment management company SkyBridge Capital announced the launch of a Bitcoin fund—Sky Bridge Bitcoin Fund L.P., providing institutional-grade tools for investors to invest in Bitcoin . Prior to launch, SkyBridge Capital and its affiliates had already invested $25.3 million in the fund. Additionally, SkyBridge Capital's fund position invested in Bitcoin in November and December 2020 on behalf of its flagship fund reached $310 million.

SkyBridge is located in New York, USA, and was founded in 2005 by hedge fund giant Anthony Scaramucci. Currently, the fund's assets under management have exceeded $12.22 billion. The fund earns commissions by investing retail and institutional investors' funds in renowned hedge fund management companies.

According to SkyBridge Capital's official website, SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund uses Fidelity Digital Assets as its Bitcoin custodian and Ernst & Young as its auditor. The fund charges only a 0.75% management fee with no incentive fees. Subscriptions can be made directly through the official website, but must be qualified investors meeting SEC requirements.

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7. MicroStrategy

In August 2020, MicroStrategy first publicly announced that it would make Bitcoin the company's primary treasury reserve asset. In August and September, it invested a total of $425 million to purchase 38,250 BTC. Since then, MicroStrategy has steadily increased its Bitcoin holdings. As of February 22, 2021, the company held 71,079 Bitcoins, with current holdings valued at approximately $3.992 billion , making it the publicly traded company with the largest Bitcoin holdings globally .

Additionally, in December 2020 and February 2021, MicroStrategy announced plans to issue $690 million and $900 million in senior convertible bonds respectively, with the raised funds to be used to purchase more Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy was founded in 1989 and is a U.S. business intelligence software giant and the world's largest independent BI (Business Intelligence) company (Nasdaq stock code: MSTR). The company has maintained 20 years of continuous growth since its founding, with annual revenue exceeding $500 million, primarily from business intelligence software and services.

MicroStrategy's high-profile布局 has sparked a Bitcoin buying trend among publicly traded companies and has become an important turning point for major Wall Street corporations to enter the market. More and more companies, institutions, and banks are indirectly increasing their investment in Bitcoin by holding MicroStrategy stock. Among them, global investment bank Morgan Stanley holds 10.9% of MicroStrategy's shares, specifically owning 792,627 shares of MicroStrategy stock.

8. Tesla

In February 2021, according to the annual report Form 10-K officially filed with the U.S. Securities and Trading Commission, Tesla has invested a total of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin (approximately 100 billion RMB) and expects to accept digital assets as a payment method for purchasing vehicles and other products in the near future. Based on the amount of Bitcoin held by Tesla, the company's Bitcoin investment profit this year is nearly 30% higher than its 2020 vehicle sales profit .

According to a report by Caixin, it was learned from documents Tesla submitted to the SEC that in 2020, Tesla's revenue in the Chinese market reached $6.662 billion, a year-on-year increase of 123.6%. However, the United States remains Tesla's largest market, with revenue reaching $15.207 billion, while revenue from other markets outside China and the U.S. was $9.667 billion.

9. Square

On October 8, 2020, U.S. mobile payment company Square announced it had purchased 4,709 Bitcoins for $50 million (average of $10,600 per Bitcoin). In February 2021, Square stated in a public announcement that it had purchased approximately 3,318 Bitcoins for $170 million. Adding the previously purchased $50 million in Bitcoin, as of December 31, 2020, Square's Bitcoin holdings represent approximately 5% of Square's total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities .

Square was founded by Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey. As early as 2014, Square began accepting Bitcoin as a payment method. In January 2018, Square's mobile application Cash App officially began offering Bitcoin purchase services to users. **On February 24, 2021, according to the revenue report Square submitted to the U.S. Securities and Trading Commission (SEC), Square's Bitcoin revenue in 2020 was $4.57 billion, with $97 million becoming the company's gross profit. Bitcoin revenue increased by 785% year-over-year. **Cash App has become a primary channel for retail consumers in the U.S. mainstream market to enter the Bitcoin market. Revenue generated by Square from selling Bitcoin on Cash App contributed "48% of consolidated total revenue in 2020 and 85% of the total increase in consolidated net returns."

10. MassMutual

On December 11, 2020, U.S. life insurance company Mass Mutual announced it had purchased $100 million worth of Bitcoin (approximately 5,470 BTC at the then-price of $18,279) through New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) for its general insurance account. This investment represents 0.04% of Mass Mutual's investment account funds. Additionally, Mass Mutual purchased $5 million in equity in New York Digital Investment Group, a company that holds $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency.

Mass Mutual is one of the five largest life insurance companies in the United States, a U.S. mutual life insurance company with 5 million customers, managing over $235 billion in insurance accounts. Founded in 1851 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, it has nearly 170 years of rich experience in risk and wealth management.

11. Galaxy Digital Holdings

Galaxy Digital Holdings is the publicly traded company with the third-largest Bitcoin holdings, currently holding 16,402 BTC worth $782 million.

In November 2020, Galaxy Digital Capital Management LP (hereinafter Galaxy Digital), a subsidiary of Galaxy Digital Holdings, joined forces with Canadian investment company CI Global Asset Management to launch a closed-end Bitcoin fund (CI Galaxy), completing a $72 million IPO that will provide Bitcoin exposure to Canadian investors. Previously, Galaxy Digital also launched two Bitcoin funds—Galaxy Bitcoin Fund and Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund.

Additionally, in January 2021, Galaxy Digital revealed that the company had established a new division, Galaxy Digital Mining, to provide financial services and products to Bitcoin miners and make new attempts in the Bitcoin mining field.

Galaxy Digital is a financial services and cryptocurrency investment management company founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz, also known as the "Goldman Sachs" of the crypto space. Its main businesses include investment, trading, consulting, securities brokerage, and asset management. The company operates four cryptocurrency funds. As of January 31, 2021, Galaxy Digital Capital Management LP managed preliminary assets of $834.7 million.

The demonstration effect brought by these funds and institutional giants may attract large amounts of capital to enter the Bitcoin market seeking returns. Bitcoin's move toward mainstream financial markets is becoming an inevitable trend. According to data statistics, the number of Bitcoins held by publicly traded companies has surged 400% in the past 12 months. Last year, publicly traded companies held less than 20,000 Bitcoins. Today, 19 publicly traded companies hold a total of 105,837 Bitcoins worth over $3.6 billion.

**As ARK stated in 2021 Big Ideas, "In the future, Bitcoin will become part of the balance sheets of many institutions and publicly traded companies, and what awaits Bitcoin is a bright and boundless future." **As Bitcoin's price repeatedly refreshes historical records, we will together witness a new era belonging to Bitcoin.

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47 Institutions Hold GBTC: Which Other Institutions and Companies Are Investing in Bitcoin Besides Grayscale?