What happened
Tactive Advisors, LLC reported a significant increase in its stake in iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT 4.19%), according to a Form 13F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 18, 2025 (link).
The firm purchased 169,461 additional shares, raising its position to 199,339 shares, with a quarter-end value of $12.2 million.
What else to know
The buy increased IBIT to 3.95% of Tactive Advisors, LLC's $309.28 million in 13F reportable assets under management (AUM).
Top holdings after the filing, as of June 30, 2025 are:
- FlexShares Ultra-Short Income Fund: $12.60 million (4.1% of AUM)
- iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF: $12.20 million (3.9% of AUM)
- SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF: $12.04 million (3.9% of AUM)
- Invesco QQQ Trust, Series I: $9.86 million (3.2% of AUM)
- Nvidia: $8.69 million (2.8% of AUM)
IBIT shares were priced at $66.05 as of August 18, 2025; the ETF has risen 96.5% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 by 81.5 percentage points
IBIT closed 5.5% below its 52-week high as of August 18, 2025.
ETF overview
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| AUM | $309.28 million |
| Current price | $66.05 |
| One-year price change | 96.46% |
| Market data as of | August 18, 2025 |
ETF snapshot
Investment strategy and objective: The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF seeks to provide investors with exposure similar to investing in bitcoin, without acquiring, holding, or trading bitcoin directly.
Underlying holdings and portfolio composition: The ETF allows investors to gain exposure to bitcoin without direct ownership or the need for digital wallets.
Expense ratio and fund structure: The fund is structured as a trust.
The fund enables investors to participate in bitcoin’s performance without navigating the complexities of direct ownership since it provides a straightforward way to gain bitcoin exposure.
Foolish take
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF is an exchange traded fund that deals exclusively in Bitcoin. It holds only Bitcoin, and because of this, it has all the same risks and rewards of holding Bitcoin, but in a less convenient format that can’t be used as currency, should an investor decide to do so. It’s not shielded from Bitcoin’s volatility because it’s only Bitcoin and has nothing else to adjust in order to make the outcomes more stable.
It’s also fairly new, only launched in 2024, so the historic data isn’t much to go by. The stock itself has gained 139% in lifetime value and is up 24.5% year-to-date, but once again, as it tracks the value of Bitcoin exclusively, this gain could all be wiped out in the snap of a finger due to the nature of cryptocurrency as a whole.
However, if an investor is insistent upon holding Bitcoin, the expense ratio of 0.25% may beat out transaction fees involved in buying Bitcoin directly and holding it in a crypto wallet when buying small amounts of this ETF. Since these fees are variable based on current network demand, it could really go either way and will depend on how much investors are purchasing.
The main appeal is that iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF makes it easy to incorporate Bitcoin into an existing portfolio, but conservative investors should really not be dabbling in cryptocurrency to begin with.
Glossary
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): An investment fund traded on stock exchanges, holding assets like stocks, bonds, or commodities.
13F reportable assets: Assets disclosed by institutional investment managers in quarterly SEC filings, showing their holdings.
Assets Under Management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed by a financial institution or fund.
Expense ratio: The annual fee, expressed as a percentage, that a fund charges to cover operating expenses.
Trust (fund structure): A legal entity holding assets on behalf of investors, often used for ETFs or mutual funds.
Underlying holdings: The individual securities or assets that make up an investment fund's portfolio.
Portfolio composition: The breakdown of the types and proportions of assets held within an investment portfolio.
Exposure: The amount of risk or investment allocated to a particular asset, sector, or market.
Quarterly average price: The average price of a security over a three-month reporting period.
52-week high: The highest price at which a security has traded during the past year.
