Crypto15 August, 20263 min read
UBS Boosts BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust Call Options 24-Fold, Direct Holdings Rise 12%
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UBS boosted IBIT call options 24-fold to 1.95 million shares as of June 30. Direct IBIT holdings rose about 12% to ~408,000 shares in the quarter.
UBS lifts Bitcoin ETF bets
UBS reported a more than 24-fold rise in its exposure to call options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the second quarter, while its direct IBIT holdings rose about 12% to 407,890 shares. CoinDesk said UBS reported call options representing 1.95 million IBIT shares outstanding as of June 30, up from 80,000 three months earlier, and put options representing 143,300 IBIT shares outstanding, down about 53% from 303,300 at the end of March. The filing described the call options as giving UBS “the right to acquire IBIT shares at a set price on a future date,” and it also noted that the disclosure does not include strike prices or expiration dates.
UBS’s options and holdings were disclosed alongside its broader push to expand client access to digital assets, with the report saying the bank began preparing to offer select private banking clients in Switzerland access to Bitcoin and Ether trading. CoinDesk added that the filing “does not specify whether those client initiatives drove the IBIT option increases,” leaving open whether the changes reflected hedging, market-making, discretionary client portfolios, or proprietary exposure.
Tudor Investment adjusts exposure
Tudor Investment, founded by Paul Tudor Jones, increased its direct stake in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF in the second quarter while cutting its reported call options exposure by 85%. Cryptonews.net said the firm owned 688,529 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), valued at $22.9 million as of June 30, and that the number of shares rose by 109,446, or 18.9%, from 579,083 at the end of March. The same filing showed call options linked to 148,000 IBIT underlying shares, representing an 85.2% drop from 998,000 in March, and it said the put option position decreased by 1.4% to 715,000 underlying shares from 725,000.
Cryptonews.net also reported that the firm’s initial accumulation occurred when bitcoin rose from about $60,000 to $92,000, and that later reductions took hold as bitcoin began to crash. In describing Tudor’s long-running view, Cryptonews.net quoted him saying in 2024 that “all roads lead to inflation” and later calling bitcoin the “best inflation hedge” in April this year.
JPMorgan adds Bitcoin, returns to XRP
JPMorgan Chase disclosed in its latest quarterly report a stake of $355.7 million in BlackRock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and new positions in XRP and ether, even as the broader bitcoin ETF market recorded a $61 million outflow that same week. Bitcoin News said JPMorgan’s Q2 2026 13F showed roughly 10.4 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at about $355.7 million as of June 30, up from nearly 8.3 million shares three months earlier when the position was valued at around $162 million. The report also said U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a $61.16 million outflow on August 13, while JPMorgan’s options portfolio remained more bullish, with BTC-related call options linked to IBIT rising from 3.77 million to 3.94 million and put options declining from 4.75 million to about 3.5 million.
Bitcoin News highlighted JPMorgan’s return to XRP, noting that its Q1 report had shown it fully liquidated its position in Bitwise’s XRP ETF, going from 3,870 shares to zero, while the Q2 report reversed that withdrawal with new positions in Bitwise’s XRP ETF and Grayscale XRP Trust. The same article said JPMorgan’s next 13F report, due in mid-November, will reveal whether the bank continued increasing its positions in Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP through the third quarter or reduced them after the second-quarter buildup.