Harvard leaves bitcoin ETF stake untouched in Q2 after cutting it 43% in the prior quarter

Paul Tudor Jones' Tudor Investment firm boosted its ownership in BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF in Q2 while reducing its call option holdings by 85%. The company owned 688,529 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) as of June 30, valued at $22.9 million. This represented an 18.9% increase from the 579,083 shares held at the end of March, now worth around $24.5 million.

Tudor also decreased its call option position tied to 148,000 IBIT shares, down 85.2% from 998,000 in March. Its put option position slightly declined by 1.4% to 715,000 underlying shares. The exact strike prices and expiration dates of the options were not disclosed in the filings. While Tudor initially disclosed 869,565 IBIT shares in mid-2024 and increased the position to 8.05 million shares by year-end, it subsequently cut the stake every quarter of 2025, ending with 576,523 shares.

The company's initial buildup occurred as bitcoin prices surged from around $60,000 to $92,000, followed by cuts in subsequent quarters. Despite the latest purchases, Tudor's direct-share position in the ETF remained 91.4% below its peak at the end of 2024, accounting for a small fraction of the $71.9 billion portfolio. Tudor has consistently viewed bitcoin as an inflation hedge, holding long positions in both bitcoin and gold.