Banco Santander disclosed a stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust for the first time in a 13F filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. The Spanish banking group reported holding 129,615 shares of IBIT, valued at $4.31 million as of June 30.
The same filing shows Santander held 297,947 shares of the iShares Ethereum Trust worth $3.54 million, marking its first reported Ether ETF position. The bank also disclosed a $1.51 million holding in the iShares Gold Trust.
No crypto ETF positions in the previous quarterly filing
Neither fund appeared in Santander’s previous quarterly disclosure, which was filed on May 8. A full-text search of the bank’s SEC filings also showed no earlier Bitcoin ETF positions.
Crypto ETF exposure accounts for about 0.05% of reported U.S. equity holdings
The positions are small compared with Santander’s reported $16.08 billion in U.S. equity holdings. Combined, the two crypto funds make up roughly 0.05% of the book, which spans 929 line items.
The filing covers holdings managed by Santander and five affiliated managers. Both crypto ETF positions are listed under SAM Investment Holdings, the Madrid-based holding company for Santander Asset Management, which reports shared investment discretion over the shares.
What the 13F filing shows
13F filings disclose long U.S. equity positions held by institutional managers with more than $100 million in assets. They do not distinguish between proprietary positions and holdings managed on behalf of clients or funds. Santander’s filing was signed by Ruben Navajo, the bank’s head of group accounting, on July 28.
Another traditional financial institution reporting spot crypto ETF exposure
The disclosure adds Santander to the list of traditional financial institutions reporting spot crypto ETF exposure in quarterly filings. The report comes more than two years after U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024. IBIT remains the largest of those funds.
Santander has also expanded crypto activity elsewhere in its business. Its digital bank, Openbank, offers crypto trading to retail customers in Europe.
Prices cited in the report
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $64,721, up 1.1% over the past 24 hours, while Ether rose 1.4% to $1,918, according to CoinGecko.