JPMorgan Chase disclosed a $355.7 million stake in Blackrock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in its latest quarterly filing, alongside fresh XRP and ether exposure, even as the broader Bitcoin ETF market logged a $61 million outflow the same week.
Key Takeaways
The bank returned to XRP through Bitwise and Grayscale funds after exiting the asset entirely earlier in 2026.U.S. spot citcoin ETFs lost $61.16 million on August 13, even as JPMorgan’s options book turned more bullish.The IBIT stake is a sliver of JPMorgan’s total reportable holdings, which the same filing pegs at $1.807 trillion spread across 34,064 individual positions. Still, the quarter-over-quarter growth rate outpaces most of the bank’s traditional equity book.
The bank’s derivatives book also shifted in a more bullish direction. Call options tied to IBIT rose to 3.94 million from 3.77 million, while put options fell to about 3.5 million from 4.75 million, the filing shows. Fewer puts relative to calls typically signals reduced hedging against a price decline.
Lastly, the bank’s stake in Blackrock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) grew 338% to roughly $14.3 million, spread across almost 1.17 million shares, per the same filing data.
A Return to XRPThe XRP-linked positions are still small in dollar terms next to the bank’s citcoin and ether holdings. The Bitwise XRP ETF stake is valued at $1,356 across 113 shares, the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF position is worth $3,763 across 181 shares, and the Armada Acquisition Corp II holding, a blank-check company pursuing a merger tied to Ripple’s ecosystem and trading under the ticker XRPN, is valued at $207,295 across 19,894 shares.
JPMorgan’s next 13F filing, due in mid-November, will show whether the bank continued adding to its citcoin, ether and XRP positions through the third quarter or pared back after Q2’s buildup. Investors will also be watching whether the options shift toward more calls and fewer puts proves to be a genuine bullish signal or simply routine portfolio rebalancing.
