Macquarie Group dumps 62% of its Bitcoin ETF position, trimming holdings to $55M

Macquarie Group, the Australian financial giant with a market cap north of $50B, slashed its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) by roughly 62% during the second quarter of 2026. The firm now holds approximately 1.6 million shares worth between $53M and $55M, down from about 4.139 million shares valued at around $159M at the end of Q1.

The move, disclosed in a 13F filing submitted around August 14, marks the second consecutive quarter Macquarie has pulled back from the world’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF. And the pace of retreat is accelerating.

A pattern, not a one-off

In Q1 2026, Macquarie trimmed its IBIT stake by roughly 19%. Cutting 62% in a single quarter is a different conversation entirely.

Macquarie hasn’t publicly explained the rationale behind either reduction. No earnings call commentary, no press release, no executive interviews touching on the decision.

One important caveat with 13F filings: they don’t distinguish between proprietary holdings and positions held on behalf of clients. So it’s possible Macquarie’s own conviction hasn’t changed at all, and the reduction reflects client redemptions or mandate changes. It’s also possible the firm is actively de-risking. The filing doesn’t tell us which, and Macquarie isn’t volunteering the answer.

What the broader 13F landscape looks like

SEC Form 13F requires any institutional investment manager with more than $100M in qualifying assets to disclose their US equity holdings on a quarterly basis. These filings have become essential reading for anyone tracking institutional adoption of Bitcoin, especially since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the US in early 2024.

IBIT, BlackRock’s offering, quickly became the dominant product in the category and has remained among the largest spot Bitcoin ETFs by assets under management.

Reading the tea leaves without over-reading them

The temptation with 13F data is to treat every filing as a verdict on Bitcoin’s future. That’s usually a mistake. These snapshots capture a single moment in time, with a roughly six-week delay between the end of a quarter and the filing deadline.

Macquarie is not a crypto-native firm or a hedge fund that swings for the fences. It’s a sprawling, diversified financial institution with deep roots in infrastructure, energy, and traditional asset management.

The next 13F cycle, covering Q3 positions, will reveal whether Macquarie continued selling, stabilized at its current level, or reversed the trend. Until then, the firm’s $55M position represents a fraction of what it held just six months ago, and the direction of travel has been unambiguous.

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