JPMorgan Chase grew its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust to roughly 10.4 million shares, worth about $355.7 million as of June 30, according to the bank’s second-quarter 13F filing with the SEC, filed Aug. 12. That is up from about 8.3 million shares, valued near $162 million, the prior quarter.
The crypto positions remain a small fraction of JPMorgan’s total reportable holdings, which the same filing pegs at $1.807 trillion across more than 34,000 positions, but the direction of travel points to deeper exposure to regulated crypto products.
Ether and altcoin exposure
JPMorgan’s stake in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust rose more than fourfold to about 1.17 million shares, valued near $14.3 million, up 338% from the first quarter. The bank also established a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF of roughly 47,500 shares.
The filing showed a return to XRP after the bank had exited the asset entirely in Q1. The new exposure is small, spread across the Bitwise XRP ETF, the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF and a stake in Armada Acquisition Corp II, a blank-check company pursuing a deal tied to the Ripple ecosystem.
The bitcoin position still exceeds the ether stake by a wide margin, and the XRP holdings are nominal in dollar terms, but the return to the asset after a zero position is the more notable signal in the filing.
Context: institutions via ETFs
13F filings offer a quarterly snapshot of institutional holdings of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, and banks’ crypto exposure through these vehicles reflects client-driven demand for regulated access rather than a direct endorsement of the underlying tokens. The holdings can shift between quarters as client flows and market conditions change.
What to watch next
JPMorgan’s next 13F, due in mid-November, will show whether the bank continued adding to its bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana positions through the third quarter or pared back after Q2’s build-up. The filing arrives as spot bitcoin ETFs have seen volatile flows, making the bank’s positioning a useful signal of institutional sentiment. Morgan Stanley also increased its crypto ETF holdings in the same reporting period, underscoring a broader trend among large banks.
