Seyffart also said investment advisers and hedge funds led the reduction in exposure. He identified Brevan Howard as the largest reducer, with more than 17,000 BTC worth of ETF shares sold. That concentration suggests a meaningful share of the quarter’s selling came from a small number of large allocators.
Form 13F filings track holdings reported by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in qualifying securities. The filings help measure changes in reported ETF exposure from one quarter to the next. However, they do not show real-time positions, intraday activity, or derivatives exposure.
Furthermore, Bitcoin’s Q4 2025 price drop helps explain the shift in institutional allocations. The asset fell from above $120,000 to below $85,000 during the quarter, then traded around $64,000 to $65,000 on Tuesday. This context shows how spot Bitcoin ETFs can record a strong single-day inflow while quarterly filings still reflect lower institutional exposure.