Bank of America is quietly reallocating its crypto bets — and Ethereum is losing ground.
New SEC 13F filings for the first quarter show the banking giant sharply ramped up exposure to Bitcoin-linked products while trimming positions tied to Ethereum and Solana. The move underscores a broader institutional pivot to spot Bitcoin ETFs and other indirect Bitcoin plays as the preferred way for large financial firms to gain crypto exposure.
What changed at Bank of America
- BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) became BofA’s dominant crypto holding after a large increase during Q1. The filing shows the bank boosted its IBIT position to about $37 million, holding 972,590 shares — roughly 70% of its total crypto investment portfolio.
- Ethereum- and Solana-linked allocations were reduced in the quarter, and smaller stakes tied to XRP and Solana ETFs remained limited.
- BofA continues to hold positions in other Bitcoin vehicles, including Fidelity’s FBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, and several Grayscale Bitcoin products, but none approach the scale of its IBIT exposure.
Indirect Bitcoin exposure via MicroStrategy
- The filing also lists nearly 3.96 million shares of MicroStrategy, a stake valued at roughly $660 million. Because MicroStrategy itself accumulates Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve, that holding gives Bank of America an additional layer of indirect Bitcoin exposure beyond ETFs.
A wider Wall Street trend
- Bank of America’s repositioning reflects a larger pattern across traditional finance: major institutions are increasingly favoring regulated Bitcoin investment vehicles even while crypto markets stay volatile.
- Other examples include Morgan Stanley — which reportedly holds over $1 billion in spot crypto ETFs and related products — Goldman Sachs’s sizable IBIT and FBTC positions, and JPMorgan’s expanded crypto exposure during the quarter despite CEO Jamie Dimon’s public skepticism of Bitcoin.
Why it matters
- The filings suggest Wall Street is consolidating around Bitcoin as the “institutional-grade” crypto asset, using custody-friendly, regulated ETFs and strategic equity positions to get exposure. For altcoins like Ethereum and Solana, that could mean reduced share of institutional portfolios even as retail and DeFi activity continues on-chain.
Bottom line: Bank of America’s Q1 reshuffle — heavy into IBIT and indirect Bitcoin plays, lighter on Ethereum and Solana — is emblematic of how regulated Bitcoin products are becoming the centerpiece of many large financial players’ crypto strategies.
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