Q2 Filings Show Sovereign Funds and Banks Piling Into Bitcoin ETFs as Prices Wobbled

Institutions loaded up on bitcoin exposure through ETFs and treasury stocks during the second quarter, even as spot prices softened. The signal comes from a batch of Q2 regulatory filings spanning Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Morgan Stanley and Edelman Financial Engines.

Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management closed out H1 2026 with an all-time high of 11,549 BTC ($725 million) in indirect bitcoin exposure. That is up 21.2% in the first half and 60.5% year over year, per K33 research cited by The Block. Six consecutive periods of growth.

Strategy (MSTR) stock made up 86% of the exposure, or 9,914 BTC. NBIM held 1.17% of Strategy shares, worth $357.3 million as of June 30. Smaller stakes rounded out the list: Metaplanet (671 BTC, 5.8%), MARA (421 BTC, 3.6%), Coinbase (183 BTC, 1.6%), Block (120 BTC, 1%) and Tesla (97 BTC, 0.8%). Metaplanet gave NBIM its largest single-company ownership stake at 1.56% of shares.

K33 wrote in a research note that the exposure, in all likelihood, is not a deliberate measure from the fund but rather a consequence of its broadly diversified portfolio. Vetle Lunde, K33’s head of research, said NBIM’s indirect BTC exposure had “entered five-digit territory.”

The fund also disclosed a new $88.3 million stake in Bitmine, an Ethereum treasury company chaired by Tom Lee. That equals 1.16% of shares and translates to roughly 67,340 ETH ($126.3 million) in indirect ether exposure. NBIM’s total AUM sits near $2.4 trillion. Bitcoin exposure accounts for 0.03% of that, down from 0.04% at end-2025. Per capita, the figure works out to about $125, or 205,000 sats, per Norwegian.

Morgan Stanley pushed its holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) up roughly 23% in Q2, to about 16.5 million shares from 13.4 million. That is an addition of 3.04 million shares, according to a 13F filing reported by Cointelegraph. The position’s market value fell about 18% to $549 million from $667 million as bitcoin slipped during the quarter. The bank also reported 2.57 million shares of its own Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), worth $43.3 million. MSBT began trading in April.

Ether ETFs grew sharply. Morgan Stanley’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) position jumped 202% to 4.6 million shares. Its Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF holding rose 26% to 5.1 million shares. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) climbed about 38%. New positions showed up in Grayscale’s Solana Staking ETF ($4.25 million) and Fidelity’s Solana Fund ($2.26 million). The bank also increased Circle Internet Group (CRCL) from 1.46 million to 8.32 million shares and added to Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8 and Bitdeer.

Not every position grew. Morgan Stanley cut Coinbase (COIN) by roughly 550,000 shares, trimmed CleanSpark (CLSK) by more than 3.1 million and fully exited an 8-million-share Bitfarms (BITF) position.

Edelman Financial Engines disclosed a $34 million spot bitcoin ETF position split between IBIT and Grayscale’s flagship product, per Bitcoin Magazine. The holding exceeds the $326 billion RIA’s $25 million Amazon position. Founder Ric Edelman has advocated for bitcoin ETFs since 2019.

Tudor Investment Corporation, the $106 billion firm run by Paul Tudor Jones, reported 688,529 IBIT shares as of June 30, valued at $22.9 million. That is up from 579,083 shares the prior quarter.

Bitcoin traded near $62,788 at press time, down 1.4% over 24 hours, according to The Block’s price page. Ether sat around $1,876, off 0.5%.

The filings capture positions as of June 30. Prices fell during the quarter. Share counts climbed at most institutions anyway. K33 called the pattern “one of the clearest examples of bitcoin’s advance into mainstream finance.” That reading leaves open whether the additions reflect fresh buying or in-kind creations and rebalancing flows.

Traders, as ever, disagree.