Compiled: Blockchain Knight

As of December 31, institutional investors held 25.4% of the spot BTC ETF managed assets (AUM), with a total of US$26.8 billion.

K33 Research Research Director Vetle Lunde shared that the percentage of BTC ETF AUM held by institutions increased by 113% between the third and fourth quarters of 2024.

In addition, the AUM ratio held by institutions increased by 4.1% quarterly, and as of the end of the fourth quarter, the total jumped 69% to $78.8 billion.

According to Lunde, the number of investors investing in BTC through ETFs reached 1,576 last quarter, an increase of 37.4% month-on-month. At the same time, the year-on-year increase reached 68.2%.

Lunde's data also shows that institutions' interest in BlackRock IBIT increased by more than 4 times in 2024.

At the end of the fourth quarter of last year, institutional investors held IBIT shares at $16 billion, while IBIT shares held by shares at the end of the first quarter were less than $4 billion. Most of the growth occurred between the third and fourth quarters.

Recently, Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi's largest sovereign wealth funds, reported that as of the end of the fourth quarter, the amount of BTC it invested through IBIT was close to US$437 million.

In addition, the Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) increased its BTC investment by 110% through IBIT during the same period, exceeding $321 million.

SWIB cashed out shares from other BTC ETFs, such as Grayscale's GBTC, and as of December 31, it was only exposed through BlackRock's IBIT.

Fidelity's FBTC has also expanded significantly, with a quarterly increase of nearly 100%. However, the total asset management scale of institutional holdings is still around US$5 billion.

BlackRock's spot BTC ETF has an asset management size of nearly $56.4 billion, while all other spot BTC ETFs traded in the United States have a total asset management size of $56.9 billion.