JPMorgan Boosts MSTR Stake 36%, Holds $540M in Bitcoin ETFs

A Form 13F filed Thursday reveals that JPMorgan Chase expanded its position in Strategy (MSTR) by 36% during the third quarter. The filing shows the stake rose to 848,932 shares, valued at $131.3 million as of Sept. 30, just weeks before the stock was removed from an MSCI index.

That represents an increase of 224,545 shares from the 624,387 shares JPMorgan reported at June 30, when the holding was worth $57.87 million. The dollar value jumped partly because of the stock price. Strategy's implied price on the two filings climbed from $92.68 at June 30 to $154.67 at Sept. 30, meaning the disclosed stake more than doubled in value even though the share count rose 36%.

The same regulatory filing also reveals a significantly larger bitcoin ETF position. JPMorgan held 11,408,930 shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $539.98 million as of Sept. 30. That is up 1,001,295 shares, or 9.6%, from 10,407,635 shares worth $355.73 million three months earlier. Rounded to the nearest million, the IBIT line accounts for the $540 million bitcoin ETF stake.

Smaller holdings in other spot funds contributed additional value. The bank also owned 155,785 shares of Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust, valued at $5.76 million, and 66,264 shares of the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, worth $3.00 million. Much smaller positions appeared in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust and Invesco's Galaxy Bitcoin ETF. The spot bitcoin ETF shares total roughly $549 million. Option positions are listed separately and are not included in that sum.

JPMorgan submitted a holdings report that consolidates positions across 17 other included managers, so the Strategy and IBIT lines may include client, fund and discretionary positions rather than a single proprietary bet. The firm may have adjusted those holdings since Sept. 30. The table lists 35,990 entries valued at $1.84 trillion. Executive Director Michael T. Lees signed the report in New York on Nov. 12.

Options sit beside the share totals, not inside the $540 million

The $540 million figure covers shares only. JPMorgan also disclosed IBIT call options covering 3,703,200 shares, valued at $175.27 million, and put options covering 2,915,000 shares, valued at $137.97 million.

The Strategy options are even larger relative to the common stock. The filing shows put options covering 1,148,500 Strategy shares, valued at $177.64 million, which exceeds the $131.3 million stock line. Call options covering 349,500 shares were valued at $54.06 million. A 13F does not specify whether those options are hedges, market-making inventory or client positions, and they should not be interpreted as a single directional bet.

Other bitcoin-linked equities also appeared. JPMorgan held 1,581,814 shares of Coinbase (COIN) worth $300.58 million, up 13% from June, and 128,788 shares of Strive (ASST) worth $3.77 million, a 179% increase in the share count. Bank of New York Mellon, in a 13F filed Nov. 5, raised its own Strive stake 28% to 237,100 shares.

The filing lands as Strategy slides and bitcoin stays under $72,000

The Sept. 30 snapshot is already dated in one critical respect. MSCI is removing Strategy from its MSCI USA Index after the close on Nov. 30, a move that also removes the stock from the MSCI World and ACWI indexes. Strategy shares traded near $114.60 Thursday morning, down roughly 6% on the day. At that price, the 848,932 shares reported at quarter-end would be worth about $97 million, below the $131.3 million marked on the 13F.

Bitcoin traded near $71,300 Thursday morning, still below $72,000 after slipping through that level earlier in the session. That move is not reflected in the filing, which stops at Sept. 30.

Institutional managers that exercise investment discretion over $100 million or more in 13F securities have 45 days after quarter-end to disclose those holdings. That window ran to Nov. 14, a Saturday, so the deadline is Monday, Nov. 16. Wells Fargo, Millennium Management and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors had not appeared on the SEC's EDGAR system as of Thursday morning.

The filing does not show what JPMorgan did after Sept. 30, as bitcoin fell and MSCI announced the Strategy deletion. The record it left is 848,932 Strategy shares, up 36%, and nearly $540 million in IBIT.