UBS sharply increased its IBIT call option exposure in the second quarter

Swiss banking giant UBS materially raised its exposure to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) during the second quarter, according to CoinDesk. Regulatory filings showed the bank’s notional IBIT call option position climbed from 80,000 shares to about 1.95 million shares, marking an increase of more than 24 times over the quarter. Over the same period, UBS also lifted its direct holdings of IBIT shares from 364,371 to 407,890, a gain of roughly 12%. At the same time, the bank reduced its notional IBIT put option exposure from 303,300 shares to 143,300 shares, a drop of about 53%. The filing did not disclose the options’ strike prices or expiration dates. It also did not say whether the position changes were driven by client trading demand, market-making hedges, active portfolio management, or proprietary trading activity. The disclosure points to a notable shift in UBS’s reported IBIT-linked positioning for the quarter, while leaving key details of the options strategy undisclosed.