Brevan Howard slashes Bitcoin ETF stake by 70%, now holds $255M in IBIT

Brevan Howard, one of the world’s most closely watched macro hedge funds, has dramatically scaled back its direct exposure to Bitcoin. The firm sold roughly 70% of its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, leaving it with approximately $255 million worth of the ETF. For context on how far this pendulum has swung: at its peak in Q2 2025, Brevan Howard held close to 37.9 million IBIT shares, a position worth somewhere between $2.3 billion and $2.6 billion. That made the firm one of the largest reported institutional holders of the ETF anywhere on the planet. From all-in to options-first The retreat did not happen all at once. The bulk of the reduction came in Q4 2025, when Brevan Howard sold approximately 31.2 million shares, an 86% cut that brought its spot holdings down to roughly 5.5 million shares worth around $275 million. Rather than walking away from Bitcoin entirely, Brevan Howard replaced much of its spot exposure with a layered options position, acquiring call options tied to nearly 8 million IBIT shares, carrying a notional value exceeding $400 million, alongside put options on approximately 5 million shares worth over $248 million in notional exposure. By mid-Aug...