In the Crypto Bear Market, Which Crypto Stocks Are Institutional Giants Accumulating?

Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

Author | Wenser ( @wenser2010 )

Recently, Amundi, the largest asset management company in Europe with assets under management of $2.9 trillion, disclosed that it has increased its holdings in Strategy stocks by 148%, currently holding 1.32 million shares valued at $127.7 million. Looking back at recent data, despite the constant fluctuations of BTC, the performance of many crypto concept stocks has not been impressive. However, many institutions have chosen to increase their holdings against the trend, waiting for market rebounds to generate profits.

Currently, there are rampant claims about the "collapse of the DAT model" and "institutional crypto faith crumbling," but the 13F filings that the SEC mandates every quarter reveal a different truth — a group of investment institutions with assets under management in the hundreds of billions or trillions are quietly increasing their positions at their own pace. Odaily Planet Daily will briefly summarize the relevant targets and some representative investment institutions in this article.

Strategy (MSTR): Asset Management Giants and Public Funds Accumulate

MSTR is the most solid data point in this round of institutional accumulation, with buyers including asset management companies, large banks, and public funds.

The Amundi position of approximately 1.32 million shares is not the result of continuous unilateral buying; it once cut its Strategy stock position by nearly 90% in Q1 this year. The increase in Q2 was a replenishment from a low base of about 530,000 shares, as the market performance in Q1 was dismal, and asset management giants also need to adapt their trading strategies.

Vanguard Group, a giant in asset management, announced on July 20 that its VOE fund increased its holdings of MSTR stock by 83,093 shares, valued at $8.16 million, raising its total holdings to 2.12 million shares, valued at $209 million. On July 27, its VTSAX fund increased its holdings by 529,100 shares of MSTR stock, valued at $50 million, raising its total holdings to 10.5 million shares, valued at $994 million.

State Street Corporation, the fourth largest asset management company globally, recently disclosed that it increased its holdings of MSTR stock by 506,635 shares, involving approximately $51 million, bringing its total holdings to 7.52 million shares, valued at approximately $758 million, an increase of 7.2%.

Capital Group, the largest active fund management company with assets under management of $3.3 trillion, disclosed in July that its Growth ETF (CGGR) increased its holdings of MSTR by 80,240 shares, valued at $7.78 million, raising its total holdings to 1.66 million shares, valued at $161.39 million.

Robeco, the fifth largest asset management company in the Netherlands, disclosed in July that its MSTR holdings increased by 11%, bringing its total holdings to 133,755 shares, valued at $13.1 million.

South Korean asset management companies are also major players in MSTR's accumulation. Mirae Asset Global Investments, the second largest asset management company in South Korea with assets under management of $845 billion, disclosed in July that it increased its holdings by 25,573 shares of MSTR, valued at $2.42 million, raising its total holdings to 135,951 shares, valued at $12.87 million.

In addition to asset management institutions, the accumulation by banks and public funds is also noteworthy.

Large banks include Svenska Handelsbanken AB, the second largest bank in Sweden with assets of $132.5 billion, which previously increased its holdings by 23,829 shares of MSTR, valued at $2.21 million, bringing its total holdings to 106,522 shares, valued at $9.92 million; Swedbank AB, the third largest bank in Sweden, previously increased its holdings by 8,278 shares of Strategy stock, bringing its total holdings to 90,590 shares, valued at $8.81 million; Bank of New York Mellon recently disclosed that it increased its holdings by 14,630 shares of Strategy stock, valued at $1.45 million, raising its total holdings to 1.02 million shares, valued at $10.24 million; National Bank of Canada increased its MSTR holdings to 1.2 million shares, nearly doubling its position, valued at $11.6 million; Citibank increased its holdings by 238,538 shares, valued at $9.05 million; Nordic banking giant Nordea and Austrian banking giant Raiffeisen Bank International also increased their MSTR stocks by hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

Regarding public funds, the Michigan Retirement System, with assets under management exceeding $100 billion, recently disclosed that its MSTR position increased from about 5,800 shares to 14,000 shares, an increase of 141%, with a market value of about $1.22 million; the Louisiana State Employees Retirement Fund increased its MSTR stock to 21,300 shares, valued at $2.13 million; and the New Jersey Police and Firemen's Retirement Fund recently increased its MSTR holdings to 49,055 shares, valued at $4.66 million.

Although the absolute amounts of these increased positions are not large, the willingness of public pension funds, which prioritize fiduciary responsibility, to expand their BTC asset risk exposure is more significant than the funds themselves.

Bitmine (BMNR): From Hedge Funds to Asset Management Giants Buying In

As a leading stock in Ethereum treasury, BMNR's market performance has not been satisfactory.

After attracting over $100 million in investments from Citadel Advisors and Susquehanna International in Q1, the main buyers in Q2 gradually shifted to mainstream asset management giants and index funds.

BlackRock is currently the largest institutional shareholder of BMNR, holding 27.2971 million shares as of the end of June this year;

State Street Corp. held 8.74 million shares of BMNR at the end of Q2, strongly entering the top 10 shareholders;

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest held 5.7 million shares at the end of Q2 but sold about 121,000 shares of Bitmine stock at the end of July, valued at $2 million.

The most noteworthy aspect of Q2 is Bitmine's entry into the Russell Index, which triggered mandatory large purchases by many passive index funds and ETFs under various giants. Currently, it is difficult to view this as "asset management giants making active judgments to buy in."

Circle (CRCL): Public Funds, Asset Management Giants, International Banks, and Cathie Wood All Taking Action

On the Circle line, both types of funds have taken action.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) established a new position in Circle in Q2, purchasing 139,507 shares with an investment of approximately $13.31 million, a scale in the tens of millions of dollars, with a conservative direction but a clear attitude.

In Q1, many funds were also laying out positions. According to data disclosed in the recent quarter: Southpoint Capital Advisors previously increased its holdings by 175%, about 2.1 million shares, with a market value of about $200 million; Jane Street increased its holdings by more than ten times, about 1.94 million shares, with a market value of about $185 million; Morgan Stanley increased its holdings by 241%, about 3.52 million shares, with a market value of about $336 million.

As we enter Q2, despite the slow progress of the CLARITY Act, more institutions are choosing to buy into Circle's "crypto bank and payment giant narrative."

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund spent $131.8 million to buy 2,105,378 shares;

Swiss National Bank holds about 418,900 shares, valued at approximately $26.23 million;

Korea Investment Corporation also bought 65,443 shares, valued at approximately $4.1 million;

BlackRock even directly increased its holdings by 65.35%, raising its total position to 8.4 million shares.

ARK Invest has also been active in this target, with its most recent operation on August 7, purchasing 313,764 shares of Circle stock through its ARKK fund, valued at approximately $20.92 million at $66.67 per share. Previously, data showed that as of July 31, ARK Innovation ETF included 3.82% of Circle stock in its top ten holdings, ranking 8th.

Coinbase (COIN): Vanguard Group Passively Buying In, Ark Invest Buying on Dips and Swing Trading

Currently, the largest institutional shareholder of COIN is Vanguard Group, which maintains a position of tens of millions of shares, valued in the billions of dollars. The source of this position is clear: COIN has entered mainstream indices such as the S&P 500, and index funds and ETFs managed by Vanguard will passively buy according to weight, with the scale following changes in market capitalization, not representing the fund manager's active judgment of "now is the time to increase positions."

BlackRock and State Street have consistently ranked among the top shareholders of COIN, with logic similar to that of Vanguard Group. The truly active judgments for increasing positions currently come more from thematic funds like ARK and some hedge funds, which frequently adjust their positions and have clear directions, willing to continue buying during downturns.

ARK Invest's strategy is to buy COIN on dips and occasionally engage in swing trading. Its most recent operation occurred on August 7, spending approximately $9.16 million to buy 59,668 shares of Coinbase stock at a price of $153.6 per share. As of July 31, the ARK Innovation ETF included 4.54% of Coinbase stock in its top ten holdings, ranking 5th.

Robinhood (HOOD): Pension Funds Making Small Accumulations, Institutional Holdings Exceeding 90%

HOOD's institutional ownership ratio has exceeded 93%, making it the most institutionalized stock among this batch.

Q1 13F data shows that Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings by 19.3%, raising its position to 74,000 shares, with a market value of approximately $5.14 million; Empowered Funds increased its holdings by 46.7%, holding about 50,000 shares. Although these individual amounts are not large, what is more telling is the breadth — many small and medium-sized pension funds and bank-affiliated asset management companies are simultaneously making small accumulations, indicating that HOOD has entered the regular allocation pool of conservative funds rather than being an alternative target requiring special approval.

ARK also increased its holdings in HOOD by about 1.19 million shares in Q1. According to reliable data, as of July 31, ARK Innovation ETF also included 3.54% of Robinhood stock in its top ten holdings, ranking 9th.

Block (XYZ): BlackRock Slightly Reduced Holdings in Q2, Cathie Wood Engaging in Swing Trading

Regarding Block stock, the most noteworthy action is BlackRock's move in Q2 — according to the latest disclosure, BlackRock holds approximately 41,573,031 shares of Block stock, valued at approximately $3.1596 billion; compared to Q1, it actually slightly reduced its holdings by 665,843 shares of Block stock.

Cathie Wood has shown a unique tendency towards this stock: trading records from mid-July show that ARK bought about 72,000 shares of Block stock, valued at approximately $5.63 million; on August 6, Ark Invest disclosed another purchase of 267,676 shares of Block stock, valued at approximately $21 million. Notably, Ark Invest will appropriately reduce its holdings and sell during market downturns, demonstrating a more flexible operation.

Bullish (BLSH): Cathie Wood Leading, Asset Management Following

BLSH has not been listed for long, and institutional building has mostly concentrated in the last two quarters.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest is one of the earliest and most outspoken buyers, with a building scale exceeding $160 million in Q1.

Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank have also each established positions of nearly $100 million, aligning with ARK's direction.

Limited options in the sector mean that choosing the leading stocks is the right approach.

In summary, most investment institutions, driven by risk management, stable returns, and passive holding requirements, have chosen an investment strategy of "leading stocks + a few selected options."

The patterns that can be summarized are:

1. The truly active judgments for increasing positions are concentrated in thematic funds like ARK and some hedge funds, which frequently adjust their positions, have clear directions, and are willing to continue buying during downturns.
2. Index fund giants like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street can almost be seen in the shareholder lists of every target, but more often they passively buy according to index weight, which should not be simply interpreted as "institutions are bullish."
3. Although the actions of pension funds may not involve large individual amounts, their coverage is expanding. Public funds like Michigan, Illinois, and California have almost simultaneously appeared in the accumulation lists of crypto stocks, indicating that crypto assets are being accepted as allocatable targets by more institutions with very low risk tolerance and conservative investment styles.

For retail investors, the 13F filings have a 45-day disclosure delay, and institutional position adjustments are extremely flexible and variable. Previous holding information can only serve as investment references and cannot be directly "followed for trading," especially for someone like Cathie Wood, who acts opportunistically and frequently engages in swing trading.

What is even more thought-provoking is the signal conveyed by the combined movements of various institutional funds — in terms of market bottoms and judgments on selected sectors, institutions are more solid and sensitive than retail investors. (Readers are welcome to provide feedback on any specific data errors or more detailed versions.)