Tudor Investment Corporation has increased its exposure to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, adding 109,446 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) during the second quarter of 2026.
The hedge fund, founded by billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones, raised its IBIT position by approximately 18.9%, bringing its total holdings to 688,529 shares as of June 30.
The position was valued at roughly $22.9 million, according to the firm’s latest SEC filing. The move is notable because it ends a year-long period in which Tudor had steadily reduced its exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.
Tudor Investment Increases BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Holdings
Tudor Investment held 579,083 IBIT shares at the end of March 2026.
By the end of June, that figure had risen to 688,529 shares, meaning the firm purchased an additional 109,446 shares during the quarter.
The increase marks a change in direction for Tudor after several quarters of reductions.
At the end of 2024, the hedge fund held more than 8 million IBIT shares, worth around $427 million at the time.
Throughout 2025, Tudor significantly reduced that position. Even after the latest purchase, its current IBIT holdings remain more than 90% below the late-2024 peak.
This suggests that the second-quarter increase represents a modest rebuilding of exposure rather than a return to Tudor’s previous allocation.
IBIT Position Remains Small Relative to Tudor’s Portfolio
Although the increase is significant in percentage terms, the position remains relatively small compared with Tudor Investment’s overall assets.
The firm manages more than $100 billion, while its $22.9 million IBIT holding represents only a small fraction of its reported securities portfolio.
That is important when interpreting the filing.
The increase shows that Tudor added direct exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, but it does not necessarily indicate a major shift in the firm’s overall investment strategy.
Institutional portfolios often contain thousands of positions, derivatives, hedges, and other assets that may not be fully visible in a single regulatory filing.
Tudor Cuts IBIT Call Option Exposure by 85%
While Tudor increased its direct IBIT share holdings, it sharply reduced its reported call-option exposure to the fund.
The firm’s IBIT call position fell by approximately 85% during the second quarter.
Reported call exposure declined from the equivalent of about 998,000 underlying shares at the end of March to approximately 148,000 shares by June 30.
Meanwhile, Tudor’s reported put exposure remained broadly unchanged.
This creates a mixed picture.
The firm increased direct ownership of IBIT shares while reducing a large portion of its options-based upside exposure.
However, the filing does not reveal enough information to determine exactly why the options position changed.
SEC Filing Does Not Reveal Tudor’s Full Bitcoin Strategy
Tudor’s filing does not disclose the strike prices or expiration dates of its IBIT options.
It also does not show whether the call positions were sold, exercised, allowed to expire, or adjusted as part of a larger trading strategy.
As a result, investors should be cautious about drawing strong conclusions from the lower call-option position alone.
The filing confirms only that Tudor held fewer reported IBIT calls at the end of June than it did at the end of March.
It does not provide a complete picture of the hedge fund’s Bitcoin-related exposure.
Why 13F Filings Provide Only a Partial Picture
Tudor’s disclosure was made through a Form 13F, which large institutional investment managers file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
These reports provide a snapshot of certain U.S.-listed securities held at the end of each quarter.
However, they have several limitations.
For example, 13F filings generally do not show short positions, direct cryptocurrency holdings, many derivatives, full hedging strategies, cost bases, or trades that were opened and closed within the same quarter.
They are also delayed because institutions typically have up to 45 days after the end of a quarter to submit their reports.
This means Tudor’s filing confirms that its IBIT share count increased between March 31 and June 30, but it does not reveal the firm’s complete Bitcoin investment strategy.
Morgan Stanley Also Increased Its IBIT Position
Tudor is not the only major institution that increased its exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF during the second quarter.
Morgan Stanley reported that it raised its IBIT holdings by approximately 23%.
The bank increased its position from roughly 13.4 million shares at the end of March to around 16.5 million shares by June 30.
That represents an addition of approximately 3.04 million shares.
Despite the higher share count, the reported value of Morgan Stanley’s position declined from around $667 million to approximately $549 million because Bitcoin prices weakened during the quarter.
Morgan Stanley also disclosed exposure to its own Bitcoin Trust, which began trading earlier in 2026.
UBS Significantly Expands BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Stake
Swiss banking giant UBS also reported a much larger position in IBIT.
The bank held approximately 2.5 million IBIT shares worth nearly $90 million as of June 30.
That compares with about 549,000 shares at the end of 2025.
The increase represents growth of roughly 355% in the number of shares held over six months.
However, as with other institutional filings, it is difficult to determine how much of the position represents UBS’s own investments and how much may be associated with client accounts or other activities.
The broader trend nevertheless shows that several major financial institutions maintained or increased exposure to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF during the period.
Some Institutions Kept Their Bitcoin ETF Holdings Unchanged
Not every large institution increased its position.
Harvard Management Company kept its 3.04 million IBIT shares unchanged during the second quarter.
The position was valued at approximately $101.4 million at the end of June.
Harvard had previously reduced its exposure for two consecutive quarters.
It held 6.81 million shares at the end of September 2025 before reducing the position to 5.35 million shares in the fourth quarter and then cutting another 2.31 million shares during the first quarter of 2026.
The decision to hold its remaining stake steady suggests a pause in those reductions.
Abu Dhabi Investors Maintain IBIT Holdings
Large Abu Dhabi investment entities also kept their BlackRock Bitcoin ETF positions unchanged during the second quarter.
Mubadala Investment Company held approximately 14.72 million IBIT shares, worth around $490.1 million.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Council reported another 8.22 million shares, valued at roughly $273.6 million.
The unchanged positions indicate that some major institutional investors preferred to maintain existing Bitcoin ETF exposure rather than increase or reduce it during the quarter.
Together, the filings provide a broader picture of how institutions are approaching Bitcoin through regulated investment products.
Paul Tudor Jones Has Long Supported Bitcoin
Tudor Investment’s renewed purchase comes after years of public support for Bitcoin from founder Paul Tudor Jones.
Jones first publicly discussed Bitcoin as an investment opportunity in 2020.
His argument focused heavily on monetary expansion, inflation, and Bitcoin’s limited supply.
He has frequently compared Bitcoin with assets such as gold, arguing that scarce assets can become attractive when investors are concerned about declining purchasing power in traditional currencies.
In a June 2025 interview, Jones suggested that Bitcoin, gold, and equities could all play roles in portfolios designed to protect against inflation.
Because Bitcoin tends to be considerably more volatile than gold, he argued that position sizing should reflect the additional risk.
Bitcoin as an Inflation Hedge
Jones has previously discussed keeping a relatively small percentage of investment portfolios in Bitcoin.
His long-term thesis has focused on the cryptocurrency’s fixed maximum supply of 21 million BTC.
Supporters of this view argue that Bitcoin’s limited issuance can make it attractive when governments expand money supplies or when inflation reduces the purchasing power of fiat currencies.
Jones has also suggested that high government debt could encourage policymakers to keep real interest rates below inflation.
Under those conditions, scarce assets such as gold and Bitcoin could potentially become more attractive as stores of value.
Tudor’s latest IBIT purchase is consistent with maintaining some exposure to that broader investment thesis.
Bitcoin ETF Inflows Returned Before Tudor’s Filing
The filing became public after U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a fresh period of investor inflows in early August.
The funds attracted approximately $853.5 million over five consecutive trading sessions from Aug. 3 through Aug. 7.
BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for around $694 million of those inflows, making it the dominant contributor during the period.
The five-day streak included $170.1 million in combined inflows on Aug. 3, followed by $211.5 million on Aug. 4 and $244.4 million on Aug. 5.
Another $128.8 million entered the products on Aug. 6, followed by approximately $98.85 million on Aug. 7.
The inflows highlighted continued investor interest in regulated Bitcoin products despite broader crypto-market volatility.
BlackRock IBIT Remains a Major Institutional Bitcoin Product
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has become one of the most closely watched vehicles for institutional Bitcoin exposure.
The fund is designed to provide investors with Bitcoin price exposure without requiring them to directly manage cryptocurrency wallets, private keys, or custody infrastructure.
For institutions operating within traditional securities markets, this structure can make Bitcoin exposure easier to integrate into existing investment and compliance systems.
IBIT carried a 0.25% sponsor fee and reported a net asset value of approximately $35.58 per share as of Aug. 14.
Its growth has made institutional 13F filings increasingly useful for tracking how major investment firms are approaching regulated Bitcoin exposure.
What Tudor Investment’s IBIT Purchase Means
Tudor Investment’s latest filing does not suggest that the hedge fund has returned to the massive IBIT allocation it held in late 2024.
However, the decision to add 109,446 shares is still noteworthy because it ends a prolonged period of reductions.
The hedge fund now owns 688,529 IBIT shares worth approximately $22.9 million.
At the same time, its sharp reduction in call-option exposure shows that the overall strategy is more complicated than simply increasing its bullish position.
The most important takeaway is that Tudor increased its direct ownership of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF while several other major financial institutions also maintained or expanded their exposure.
That does not guarantee stronger Bitcoin prices, but it provides another indication that regulated Bitcoin ETFs remain part of the investment landscape for large institutional portfolios.
