Barclays Raises Its BlackRock IBIT Stake 48% to $187M

Barclays raised its stake in BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF IBIT by 48%: its Q3 2026 Form 13F shows 3.94 million shares worth about $186.7 million as of September 30, up from 2.66 million shares worth $88.5 million on June 30.

Details

Barclays filed the Q3 13F on November 6. The main IBIT line is 3,842,862 shares worth $181.9 million; another 100,038 shares (about $4.7 million) are reported under other managers within the group. In the Q2 filing the combined position was 2,658,147 shares worth $88.5 million. Share count rose 48%, while dollar value roughly doubled, partly because of bitcoin's price move over the quarter, so the value gain should not be read as all new buying.

The filing also lists IBIT options: calls on 8.48 million shares (about $401 million notional) and puts on 8.17 million shares (about $387 million). At a bank such positions often relate to client activity and hedging rather than a price bet; Form 13F does not say. Cointelegraph reports figures for other banks such as Citigroup, which we did not check against the primary filings.

What it means for the market

13F filings are quarter-end snapshots published with a lag, so this is the picture as of September 30, not today. Still, the direction is clear: banks that once only served clients increasingly appear as holders of bitcoin ETFs themselves. For current fund flows see the ETF flows page; for the live price, the daily brief.

This is not investment advice.