Jane Street, the secretive Wall Street trading firm that posted a record $16.1 billion in Q1 trading revenue, used the quarter to rotate capital out of Bitcoin and into Ethereum. According to a 13F regulatory filing released May 13, 2026, the firm cut its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) position by about 71% to roughly 5.9 million shares worth $225 million, slashed its Fidelity Bitcoin fund (FBTC) holdings by 60% to $115 million, and added approximately $82 million in new Ethereum ETF exposure across BlackRock and Fidelity products. The firm also cut its Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) position by 78%, reducing the stake from $146 million to $27 million.
The repositioning is one of the largest single-quarter pivots from Bitcoin to Ether by an institution of Jane Street’s size, and it lands as the CLARITY Act clears the Senate Banking Committee.
Key takeaways
- Jane Street cut IBIT by 71% to $225 million and FBTC by 60% to $115 million in Q1 2026, per its May 13 13F filing.
- The firm added roughly $82 million in Ethereum ETF exposure, nearly doubling its BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust position.
- Strategy (MSTR) holdings fell 78% from $146 million to $27 million, while Coinbase, Riot Platforms, and Galaxy Digital positions grew.
- Jane Street reported record Q1 trading revenue of $16.1 billion, with crypto market-making a contributor alongside AI-driven equity volatility.
Published: May 16, 2026, 12:30 UTC
What the filing actually shows
A 13F is a quarterly SEC disclosure that institutional managers with over $100 million in assets must file. It lists long equity and ETF positions at quarter end and does not show short positions, derivatives, or intra-quarter trading. So Jane Street’s filing is a snapshot of its disclosed long book on March 31, 2026, not a complete picture of its crypto exposure.
Within those limits, the rotation is unambiguous. IBIT fell from 20.3 million shares worth more than $1 billion at the end of Q4 2025 to 5.9 million shares worth $225 million. FBTC dropped 60% to roughly 2 million shares worth $115 million. Strategy fell from 968,000 shares to 210,000, a 78% drop that unwound most of the position Jane Street had built during a 473% Q4 2025 accumulation.
On the Ether side, the iShares Ethereum Trust position roughly doubled, and the Fidelity Ethereum fund stake grew, adding around $82 million in combined new exposure. The pivot is selective. Coinbase holdings grew to 888,000 shares worth $155 million. Riot Platforms rose to 7.4 million shares worth $91 million. Galaxy Digital ballooned from 17,000 shares worth $380,000 to 1.5 million shares worth nearly $28 million.
Why a market maker rotates this way
Jane Street is one of the most active market makers in U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. Authorized participants create and redeem ETF shares in exchange for the underlying asset and earn the spread, while using ETF positions as inventory to hedge other crypto exposures. A 71% IBIT cut does not necessarily mean Jane Street is bearish on Bitcoin. It usually means the firm rebalanced inventory based on flow, basis spreads, and where it sees the most profitable two-sided market.
The 13F catches that inventory at one moment. The fact that the moment shows a heavy Ether tilt suggests Jane Street sees better basis and flow opportunities in Ether ETFs than in Bitcoin ETFs right now, or that retail and institutional Bitcoin ETF flows have slowed enough that holding $1 billion of IBIT inventory no longer pays.
The regulatory and market context
The rotation lands at a moment that favors Ether. The Senate Banking Committee passed the CLARITY Act on May 14 in a 15-9 vote, and the bill classifies Ether as a digital commodity, ending years of ambiguity. The SEC-CFTC joint interpretation issued March 17, 2026, named Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, and 12 other tokens as commodities.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have absorbed roughly $1 billion in net inflows so far in May, but flows have flattened versus 2024-2025 ranges. Ether ETF flows have grown more consistently, helped by staking-enabled product launches and a clearer commodity classification. Wells Fargo and other large institutions have also expanded Ether ETF positions in recent filings.
Other crypto equity bets
Jane Street did not exit crypto-linked equities. It cut Bitcoin mining stocks across the board, trimming IREN, Cipher Mining, TeraWulf, and Core Scientific, but added to Riot Platforms. The largest expansion was in Galaxy Digital, where the position grew nearly 90-fold in one quarter. That move tracks with Galaxy’s NYSE listing and the firm’s broader bet on diversified crypto financial services rather than pure mining or pure treasury exposure.
The Strategy cut is the most striking single-name move. Jane Street had aggressively built the position in Q4 2025, then unwound roughly four-fifths of it in Q1. The likely read is a basis trade or arbitrage position that ran its course as MSTR’s premium to its Bitcoin holdings compressed.
What comes next
The next 13F, due in mid-August, will show whether the Q1 rotation was tactical or structural. Watch whether IBIT recovers if Bitcoin ETF flows pick up, whether the Ether position grows if CLARITY clears the full Senate, and whether Galaxy Digital keeps growing as Jane Street bets on tokenization and prime services. Separately, the firm faces litigation from the Terraform Labs bankruptcy estate over alleged insider trading tied to the 2022 TerraUSD collapse; Jane Street has petitioned to dismiss.
Frequently asked questions
What did Jane Street’s Q1 2026 13F filing show?
Jane Street cut its iShares Bitcoin Trust position by 71% to $225 million and Fidelity Bitcoin fund by 60% to $115 million. The firm added roughly $82 million in Ethereum ETF exposure, nearly doubling its BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust position, and cut its Strategy (MSTR) holdings by 78% to $27 million.
Does Jane Street’s Bitcoin ETF cut mean Wall Street is turning bearish on crypto?
Not directly. Jane Street is a market maker, and 13F filings only show long positions. The firm uses ETF shares as inventory for two-sided trading and hedging. The Q1 rotation suggests Ether ETFs offered better flow and basis opportunities than Bitcoin ETFs, not that Jane Street has turned bearish on Bitcoin overall.
How does this fit with the CLARITY Act?
The CLARITY Act, which passed the Senate Banking Committee on May 14, classifies Ether as a digital commodity under CFTC jurisdiction. That regulatory clarity makes Ether ETFs more attractive to institutional traders and reduces compliance uncertainty, which lines up with Jane Street’s pivot toward Ether-linked products.
