Bank of Montreal Has Been Quietly Buying Bitcoin ETFs

The Bank of Montreal (BMO), Canada’s third largest bank by asset size, quietly purchased approximately $150 million in spot bitcoin ETFs. The information came to light when the bank filed its Form 13F-HR with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday. The regulator requires institutional investment managers who manage more than $100 million in the U.S. to file the form. BMO’s largest purchase was roughly $139 million of Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF. The remaining $11 million was distributed among three other funds: Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The bank also purchased roughly $17,000 of the Proshares Bitcoin ETF which invests in bitcoin futures contracts.