According to the investment company River, by the end of the first quarter of 2024, 13 of the 25 largest US hedge funds had financial stocks in bitcoin ETFs on their balance sheets. The largest volume of investments in shares of spot bitcoin funds was recorded in Millennium Management, which had 27,263 shares worth about $1.7 billion, which is approximately 2.5% of the total assets of the hedge fund.
River experts note that American hedge funds have begun to treat bitcoin as a viable asset for diversifying their investment portfolio and hedging risks. However, the final victory and recognition of the flagship cryptocurrency is still ahead, as other significant players in the financial risk hedging market, such as Bridgewater Associates, AQR Capital Management and Balyasny Asset Management, have not yet invested in bitcoin ETFs.
Earlier, Robert Mitchnick, head of the virtual assets department at BlackRock, the world's largest investment company, said that, according to his forecast, in the next few months, the list of institutional investors involved in trading bitcoin spot ETFs will be replenished with pension and state sovereign funds.