Hightower Advisors, SouthState Bank disclose investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs

Hightower Advisors disclosed a $68 million investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs in a May 6 filing.

The 13F filing indicates that the firm holds 709,956 shares of Grayscale’s GBTC worth $44.8 million, 200,084 shares of FBTC worth $12.4 million, 188,397 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT worth $7.6 million, and 23,964 shares of Ark Invest’s ARKB worth $1.7 million.

It also disclosed two smaller investments: 25,449 shares of Bitwise’s BITB worth $988,000 and 19,129 shares of Franklin Templeton’s EZBC worth $788,000.

Hightower’s investment in the six spot Bitcoin ETFs represents a small fraction of the $61.7 billion total disclosed in its latest filing.

SouthState buys GBTC, IBIT

Another financial institution, SouthState Bank, disclosed investments in two spot Bitcoin ETFs worth  $577,198 combined through a 13F filing.

The company reported 6,606 shares of Grayscale’s GBTC worth $417,301, plus 3,951 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT worth $159,897.

SouthState Bank’s spot Bitcoin ETF investments represent a small part of the $1.3 billion total reported in its filing.

Institutional investment continues

Each filing represents continued institutional entry into the spot Bitcoin ETF market.

Hightower is one of the largest US-based registered investment advisors and wealth management firms, with $130 billion of assets under management (AUM).

SouthState Bank is a Florida-based bank. Following a merger with CenterState Bank, the two entities have a combined $34 billion in assets under management.

The latest reports follow several other similar filings. French banking giant BNP Paribas disclosed an investment in IBIT on May 2. Burkett Financial Services reported investments in April, while Legacy Wealth Asset Management and others also reported investments in the same month.

BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Robert Mitchnick, has predicted that financial institutions will increasingly invest in and trade spot Bitcoin ETFs in the coming months. The various recent disclosures from financial institutions support his claim.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs currently have $53 billion in assets under management.

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