Hedge funds and RIAs increase Bitcoin exposure by 357% to $34.3B in 2024
A recent report by River revealed that hedge funds and registered investment advisors’ (RIA) exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) via exchange-traded products (ETF) reached $34.3 billion as of Dec. 31, showing a 357% growth last year.
The report showed that 458 RIAs had BTC exposure with a weighted allocation of 0.02%. Notably, investment advisors’ exposure soared from $2.6 billion in the first quarter to $7.1 billion as of Dec. 31, a 173% increase.
Also, 52% have BTC exposure. As of Dec. 31st, only 3% US based investment advisors were holding Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, hedge funds’ exposure rose 455% last year, from $4.9 billion in the first quarter to $27.2 billion. Only 143 out of over 30,000 hedge fund investments in BTC were noted by the report as of December 31.
Accumulation pattern shift
The current bull market is dominated by institutional accumulation, unlike previous cycles. The report revealed that individual investors will lose 525,000 BTC by 2024.
The funds and ETFs purchased 519,000 BTC during this exodus. Businesses added 374,000 BTC into their treasuries – 31% more than they did in 2020.
The report states that this shift in accumulation, coupled with the increasing interest of hedge funds and RIAs indicates that institutions are driving Bitcoin’s price.
Space for growth
The report showed that Bitcoin adoption only reaches 3% of the full potential. This is based on a combination of total addressable markets, institutional underallocation and global ownership. BTC only represents 0.2% of a $900 trillion market for global wealth.
However, the report added that Bitcoin’s addressable market has a $225 trillion market cap, an estimate based on its potential to represent half of the store-of-value assets market. Bitcoin’s addressable market is less than 1%. per estimates.
Further, the institutional exposure to Bitcoin amounts to just 0.006% out of the $128 trillion allocated by US investment advisers, a figure that is far smaller than its estimated fair value.
The report stated that:
“Increasing this [institutional exposure] to Bitcoin’s current percentage of global wealth (0.2%) would require a 36X rise in exposure, equating to $249 billion in investment.”
It also highlighted that less then 4% of global population owned Bitcoin. Individual ownership will likely increase as more people become aware of its advantages.
Postings in: Bitcoin, Adoption Crypto, Featured TradFi Author 
Gino Matos
Gino Matos, a graduate of law school and an experienced journalist with six-years experience in the crypto sector, is a lawyer. His expertise is mainly focused on the Brazilian Blockchain ecosystem and developments in Decentralized Finance (DeFi).
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Assad Jafri
AJ has been a journalist for more than a decade, and he’s honed all his skills around the world. Specialized in financial reporting, he is now focused on crypto journalism.
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