Quantitative Trading Giant Boosted its Portfolio with $1 Billion Bitcoin ETF Investment

Susquehanna International Group, a quantitative trading firm, revealed its investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the first quarter of 2024.

According to a 13F-HR filing submitted on May 7, the firm disclosed its ownership of more than $1 billion in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Susquehanna’s Crypto Portfolio

The filing, submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosed Susquehanna’s ownership of 17,271,326 shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), with a market value of approximately $1.09 billion as of March 31, 2024.

The firm also reported owning 1,349,414 Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) shares, valued at roughly $83.74 million on the same date.

Susquehanna disclosed that it increased its stake in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). According to data from investment research firm Fintel, the firm owned 7,907,827 shares of BITO as of March 31, valued at approximately $255.42 million. This marked an increase of 57.59% from a previous filing in February, which listed 5,021,149 shares.

Beyond Bitcoin ETFs, the company reduced its stake in MicroStrategy (MSTR) during a recent portfolio rebalancing by nearly 15%. As of March 31, Susquehanna’s stake in MicroStrategy dropped from 287,180 shares in February to 244,863.

Susquehanna’s cryptocurrency investments make up only a small portion of its overall portfolio, valued at over $575.8 billion by the end of the first quarter. According to data from Fintel, among its diverse investments are holdings in NVIDIA Corporation and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

Susquehanna also diversified its portfolio in the past quarter by acquiring shares in Convertible Zero, bonds from NRG Energy Inc., and preferred stocks in Albemarle Corporation.

The firm also has a history of leveraging derivatives, particularly stock options; presently, Susquehanna holds call options representing 796,600 underlying shares valued at approximately $25 million and put options representing 4,606,300 underlying shares valued at approximately $148 million.

TradFi Turns to Bitcoin ETFs

The trend of trading firms and financial advisers turning to Bitcoin ETFs for exposure to digital assets is on the rise.

In April, Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF attracted $40 million from two traditional financial advisers, Legacy Wealth Management and United Capital Management of Kansas, each investing $20 million in FBTC.

We have new high water mark for investment into one of the bitcoin ETFs: two dif advisors each put in $20m to $FBTC, one is from Kansas and the other Minnesota. The % of portfolio is also pretty high at 6% and 5% respectively. This edges out the $17m an advisor put in $IBIT pic.twitter.com/A5y58NuFoe

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 23, 2024

Bloomberg’s Balchunas views these developments as indicative of increasing adoption among traditional investors, dubbing it “as Boomer as it gets” in an X post, particularly in reference to United Capital Management of Kansas.

He views this as promising for long-term adoption advocates while contrasting it with skepticism from some within the financial industry.