oBNP Paribas invested $41,684 in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF by buying 1,030 units.
The European bank holds an enormous $600 billion in assets under management (AUM).
Recent reports indicate substantial withdrawals from the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs. But big money is already jumping on board with these ETFs. Being the second-largest bank in Europe, BNP Paribas is the most recent one. BNP Paribas has put money into the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) that BlackRock offers.
On May 1, BNP Paribas invested $41,684 in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF by buying 1,030 units, as reported in their most recent 13F filing. The investment may not be substantial, but it will help the bank go a step closer to accepting Bitcoin. The event takes on even more significance when considering the European bank’s enormous $600 billion in assets under management (AUM).
Surging Institutional Investments
Additionally, this decision is in line with the prognosis made by Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg. In response to Jim Bianco’s assertion that Bitcoin ETFs had little institutional acceptance, Balchunas went to X earlier last week. A number of investment advisers and other institutional investors have not yet filed their 13F forms for the first quarter of 2024, according to the analyst.
Additionally, Balchunas has said that he expects 500+ investment advisers to reveal their assets by the 13F reporting due of May 15. Therefore, the most recent revelation from BNP Paribas confirms that institutional investment in Bitcoin ETFs will increase dramatically.
Another interesting development is that in April, City Holding Co.—a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada with $6 billion in AUM—invested in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The subsidiary acquired one hundred units of the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF, as stated in a 13F filing on April 11, 2024.