Barclays has raised its holdings in BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF to nearly $187 million, while Citi has reported a new $119 million stake in Fidelity’s bitcoin ETF as of Sept. 30.
Summary
- Barclays reported 3.94 million IBIT shares, up roughly 48% from the previous quarter.
- Citi disclosed 1.64 million FBTC shares and lifted its IBIT share count by 50%.
- Both banks reported IBIT options alongside their shares, leaving their overall trading strategies undisclosed.
- The September holdings predate November withdrawals and Deutsche Bank’s launch of institutional crypto custody.
Barclays’ SEC filing, submitted Nov. 6, lists three IBIT share positions totaling 3,942,900 shares worth $186.66 million. Separate entries cover put and call options tied to the same fund.
Citigroup filed its report two days earlier. Its disclosures show holdings in both BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, alongside options referencing IBIT.
Barclays and Citi report larger bitcoin ETF positions
The Barclays share count compares with roughly 2.66 million shares worth $88.5 million at the end of June, according to Cointelegraph’s Nov. 11 reporting. The 48% rise refers to shares held, while the reported dollar value more than doubled.
Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at trading platform PrimeXBT, told the publication that rising fund prices can account for part of the growth in reported holdings.
“It’s important to look at the holdings in shares and not just the increase in dollar amount,” he said.
In Citi’s holdings table, FBTC accounts for 1,636,387 shares valued at $118.87 million. No matching FBTC entry appears in its June-quarter table.
Its two IBIT share entries total 521,144 shares worth $24.67 million. Compared with the 347,114 shares disclosed for June 30, the holding grew by 174,030 shares, or approximately 50.1%.
Across Barclays’ IBIT shares and Citi’s IBIT and FBTC shares, the three holdings had a combined quarter-end value of $330.19 million, excluding separately reported options.
Options disclosures leave the banks’ trading strategies open
Barclays reported IBIT calls covering 8,479,800 underlying shares and puts covering 8,169,700 shares. Citi listed calls covering 400,000 shares and puts covering 505,000 shares.
Citi’s options holdings were smaller than in June, when it reported calls covering 2.91 million IBIT shares and puts covering 1.6 million shares. Its larger shareholding therefore sat alongside reductions in both reported options categories over the quarter.
The banks’ tables identify securities, investment discretion and voting authority, but do not explain whether individual positions support customer activity, market making or proprietary investment strategies.
Under the SEC’s reporting guidance, managers report long positions without subtracting short positions. Written options are excluded, while qualifying options they hold are reported separately. The disclosures therefore do not provide a complete account of offsetting trades.
The reporting requirement applies to institutional managers exercising investment discretion over at least $100 million in covered securities, including qualifying banks and broker-dealers.
A similar distinction applied when Jane Street disclosed bitcoin ETF shares worth more than $1 billion for June 30. The quantitative trading firm’s holdings included roughly $828 million in IBIT, although the filing did not establish its investment purpose or unhedged exposure.
November ETF withdrawals followed the September snapshot
The banks’ quarter-end positions were recorded before the latest stretch of withdrawals from U.S. funds.
As crypto.news previously reported, bitcoin ETFs lost $1.28 billion during Nov. 2–6. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $1.21 billion of the weekly total and recorded net withdrawals in every session.
Fidelity’s FBTC finished the same week with $93.1 million in net inflows, despite losing $199.9 million on Thursday. Ether ETFs shed $365.2 million, bringing combined withdrawals from the two asset classes to approximately $1.65 billion.
The SEC lists Nov. 16 as the deadline for third-quarter 13F reports. Fourth-quarter disclosures will cover holdings on Dec. 31 and are due Feb. 16, 2027; they report quarter-end positions rather than transaction dates or purchase prices.
Deutsche Bank opens custody to institutional clients
Separately, Deutsche Bank’s crypto custody service launched for paying institutional and corporate clients in Europe on Nov. 11, according to Reuters.
The initial offering supports bitcoin, ether, USDC, EURC and EURAU, with the bank managing wallets and private keys on clients’ behalf. Customers access the service through its Autobahn corporate banking platform.
Retail customers are outside the initial offering. The bank’s October MiCA registration covers crypto custody and transfer services, while its announced plans include expansion into major Asian financial centers in 2027.
