Professional investors reduced their Bitcoin ETF holdings by 52,000 coins in the first quarter, a decrease of 17%.

Cointelegraph reported on June 5th that CoinShares analysis of quarterly 13F filings revealed that professional investors reduced their Bitcoin ETF holdings by 52,000 BTC, a 17% decrease, from 313,000 BTC to 261,000 BTC in the first quarter. The total value of these holdings fell by 35% to $17.8 billion, while the share of U.S. Bitcoin ETF assets held by 13F filers dropped from 24.7% to 20.8%. The selling was primarily concentrated among hedge funds and broker-dealers, which accounted for approximately 96% of the total reduction. Hedge funds offloaded 31,400 BTC (a 39% decrease), and broker-dealers sold 18,800 BTC (a 53% decrease). In contrast, the largest category of professional investors by holdings, investment advisors (holding 150,300 BTC), only reduced their positions by 5.9%. Banks more than doubled their Bitcoin ETF holdings, adding 7,800 BTC during the quarter. CoinShares Digital Asset Analyst Matt Kimmell stated, "This dataset is consistent with Bitcoin’s historical performance in bear markets, where leverage and strategic positions are being flushed out."