Bitcoin falls 14% in Q2, but institutional holdings rise 7.5%

Author: Bitcoin Strategy

Compiled by DeepChain TechFlow

DeepOcean Summary: Bitcoin fell 14% in the second quarter, but institutional 13F holdings increased by 7.5%, indicating smart money continues accumulating at the bottom. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan each added over 10,000 BTC in a single quarter, with the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund also following suit. This suggests institutions view current prices as an entry point, offering valuable insight for identifying market bottoms.

Dear Bitcoin holders,

On this week's Roxom "Bitcoin Market Conditions" show, I discussed the price movement, categorizing this cycle as an institutional adoption and maturity cycle, with ETF approval as the primary catalyst.

We have repeatedly discussed that the primary entry points for institutional adoption are ETFs and custodian companies.

For this reason, Bitcoin Strategy publishes an institutional adoption report each quarter based on the latest institutional ETF holdings. The data comes from SEC 13F filings, which require institutions managing over $100 million in assets to disclose their positions—commonly known as smart money.

Yesterday was the deadline, and the latest data on institutional ETF holdings for the second quarter of 2026 has been released.

In today’s briefing, we’ll explore the latest insights from these documents, which serve as indicators of institutional adoption of Bitcoin. Let’s get started!

👉 Key Insight: In the second quarter, Bitcoin's price fell 14.2%, while institutional holdings increased by 7.5%. This bullish divergence indicates that institutions continued accumulating Bitcoin during its bottom formation.

ETF total holdings decreased from 1,297,010 BTC to 1,211,322 BTC, a 6.6% decline, while institutional holdings increased from 498,389 BTC to 535,723 BTC, a 7.5% rise.

👉 Key Insight: Although total ETF holdings decreased, institutions increased their positions, with their share rising from 38.4% to 44.2%, a record high!

Here are the top 25 institutional holders of Bitcoin ETFs.

👇 Key Insights:

Seventeen of them increased their positions this quarter.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan both increased their holdings by over 10,000 BTC.

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund increased its position.

Below is the list of new institutional entrants configuring more than 100 BTC for the first time.

Most notably, Ameriprise, a leading U.S. wealth management and financial services firm with over 10,000 financial advisors and approximately $1.7 trillion in assets under management.

This further confirms that Bitcoin has become a mature institutional-grade asset and is gradually being integrated into traditional wealth management through financial advisors. This is a very positive development.

Other new entrants are primarily hedge funds and investment management firms, with Context Capital Management and Compass Rose Asset Management making the largest new allocations, at $191 million and $122 million, respectively. Although their names may not be as prominent, these are still significant new positions and serve as a positive signal of continued institutional adoption.

The number of institutions reporting Bitcoin holdings in 13F filings decreased from approximately 2,000 in the first quarter to nearly 1,900 in the second quarter, a 6.8% decline.

This indicates that the bear market remains quite harsh. Despite an overall increase in institutional holdings, some institutions have still been forced or frightened to exit.

This institutional data has truly exceeded my expectations. Given the bear market phase and price movements, I didn’t anticipate seeing such significant growth. Total institutional holdings have nearly surpassed the levels we saw at the peak of the cycle.

This confirms that institutions view the current price as an attractive entry point. Combined with the recovery following recent stress tests on digital credit, the likelihood of a rebound has increased.

I hope you understand this bullish divergence! As always, I’m doing my best to provide you with the best data and insights. I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts. 👊 🧡

See you next week, 🫡