Paul Tudor Jones’ investment firm increases stake in BlackRock's bitcoin ETF after year of selling

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.