Macquarie Cuts Bitcoin and Ether ETF Stakes While Buying BitMine

Macquarie Group, the Sydney-based financial services and investment banking firm, disclosed in a first-quarter 2026 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it cut its position in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), by about 19.3%, reducing its stake from 5.126 million shares to 4.139 million. The Australian institution also trimmed its holding in BlackRock’s spot Ether ETF (ETHA) by roughly 9.5%, and simultaneously opened a fresh equity position in BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR), the world’s largest Ethereum treasury company, valued at approximately $41.53 million as of March 31.

Two passive wrapper positions cut, one new operating-company stake built. Taken together, the disclosure sketches a deliberate portfolio decision to reduce index-style crypto access while adding equity with considerably higher leverage to Ethereum’s next price move.

Two ETF Cuts, One New Equity Bet

The mechanics of the repositioning are legible in three line items from the 13F. Macquarie’s IBIT stake fell from 5.126 million shares in Q4 2025 to 4.139 million in Q1 2026. The dollar value of that holding dropped to $159 million from $255 million, a combined result of deliberate selling and Bitcoin’s steep price decline through the period.

The Ether ETF followed a similar path. Holdings contracted from 3.634 million shares to 3.289 million, and the stake’s value fell from $81.5 million to about $52.1 million. BlackRock launched its iShares Bitcoin Trust spot ETF product in January 2024 and added ETHA that July; Macquarie built positions in both products as the spot ETF market attracted institutional capital through 2024 and into 2025.

The new entry is BMNR. Macquarie carried no prior position in the Ethereum treasury operator. The March 31 valuation placed the fresh stake at $41.53 million, making it a net addition to the book rather than a direct substitution within an existing line item.

Bitcoin’s Worst Quarter in Several Years

The market backdrop for Q1 2026 was punishing for passive crypto holders. Bitcoin fell from approximately $87,000 at the start of January to roughly $66,000 by the end of March, its steepest quarterly decline in several years. Oil prices pushed above $100 per barrel on Strait of Hormuz tensions, the Federal Reserve shelved any prospect of near-term rate cuts, and crypto ETFs bled capital through January and February before a partial March recovery returned approximately $1.3 billion in industry-wide inflows to the Bitcoin ETF complex.

The Bitcoin fund absorbed those swings while maintaining roughly $54 billion in assets under management and commanding close to 49% of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market by assets through the quarter. The broader institutional bid held even as prices fell, though Macquarie was clearly among those reducing rather than adding to their exposure during the downturn.

The spot Ether fund had a steeper run. The product declined about 20% through the first quarter, consistent with Ethereum’s heightened sensitivity to macro risk-off conditions relative to Bitcoin. Some of the dollar-value contraction in Macquarie’s two ETF stakes was therefore automatic, a direct function of lower asset prices applied to unchanged share counts. The deliberate reductions in share count on top of that price effect represent the active portfolio decision that shows up in the filing.

BitMine’s Ethereum Treasury Machine

BitMine Immersion Technologies operates as a corporate Ethereum treasury, with a stated business purpose of acquiring the token, holding it on its balance sheet, staking it for network yield, and accumulating more through ongoing capital raises. The company targets ownership of 5% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply, a goal it has been approaching rapidly.

BitMine’s April 9, 2026 NYSE uplisting 8-K filed with the SEC confirmed the company’s transition from NYSE American to the main exchange, marking a significant shift in institutional profile. Thomas Lee, Chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, described the move as a milestone for the company. The uplisting came after a period of rapid ETH accumulation that established the firm as the largest single corporate holder of the token globally.

Today, Bitmine achieved a major milestone by being uplisted to the Big Board NYSE.

Thomas Lee, Chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, in an April 9, 2026 announcement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of May 17, 2026, per BitMine’s May 2026 8-K with the SEC, the company held 5.278 million ETH at $2,191 per token, a position representing 4.37% of the 120.7 million token circulating supply. Its MAVAN infrastructure, the Made in America Validator Network, had 4.71 million of those tokens staked with annualized revenues of $289 million at a 2.8% yield.

Key metrics from the company’s most recent SEC filing:

• 5.278 million ETH held in treasury as of May 17, 2026
• 4.37% of the total Ethereum circulating supply controlled by a single corporate entity
• $289 million in annualized staking revenues via the MAVAN platform at 2.8% annual yield
• $12.6 billion in combined crypto holdings, cash, and equity stakes including positions in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings

Institutional backers listed in BitMine’s SEC filings include ARK Investment Management, Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Kraken, Digital Currency Group, and Galaxy Digital.

ETF Wrapper Versus Operating Equity: The Risk Calculus

Holding a spot crypto ETF is a clean transaction. At 0.25% in annual fees, IBIT and its Ether counterpart deliver Bitcoin and Ethereum price performance with minimal operational friction. There is no management team whose decisions affect returns, no net-asset-value premium or discount to worry about, and exit works precisely the same way as entry.

Holding an Ethereum treasury company is structurally different. The share price reflects supply and demand for the equity rather than the underlying token value in any mechanical way. When institutional optimism is high, treasury-company stocks frequently trade at a sustained premium to net asset value. Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) ran this playbook with Bitcoin for much of the past two years, and its equity returns substantially outpaced Bitcoin in rising markets precisely because the NAV premium compounded on top of the asset appreciation. BitMine is running the same model for Ethereum, with the added dimension of MAVAN staking yield generating ongoing cash flows alongside the treasury appreciation thesis.

That operating leverage cuts both ways. The treasury stock’s 52-week share range of $3.20 to $161.00 illustrates what the downside of that structure looks like. A spot Ether fund tracks Ethereum lower in a transparent, proportional way. A treasury operating company in a prolonged crypto correction can reprice below net asset value, adding execution risk and structural discount on top of the underlying decline. Ongoing equity raises to fund fresh token purchases also dilute existing shareholders, introducing a headwind that passive ETF holders never face.

Macquarie’s $41.53 million stake in the treasury operator sits alongside a $159 million position in the Bitcoin fund that remains the largest line item in its crypto book. The construction is additive and calibrated: broad Bitcoin ETF exposure at scale, a trimmed Ether ETF position, and a treasury-company bet that amplifies returns if Ethereum moves higher. The relative sizing reflects deliberate risk management rather than wholesale conviction in the treasury-company format.

The Payoff If Ethereum Moves, Scored Two Ways

Scenario one: Ethereum re-rates above $3,000 through the remainder of 2026. The company’s treasury grows in absolute dollar terms, the 2.8% MAVAN staking yield applies to a larger base, and any NAV premium the equity market assigns to the treasury stock amplifies the equity gain above what the spot Ether fund alone would deliver. In that scenario, trimming the Ether fund and buying the treasury equity looks like the correct call, and the Q1 repositioning earns a favorable reading on the Q2 filing.

Scenario two: crypto extends its first-quarter slide or grinds sideways. The Ether fund tracks Ethereum lower in a clean, proportional way. The treasury stock potentially drops faster, because the market discounts not just the token decline but the execution risk and dilution drag from a company continuing to raise equity capital to purchase more of a falling asset. The $41.53 million position would shrink by more per dollar than an equivalent spot Ether ETF stake would.

The MAVAN staking yield provides a limited buffer in the flat scenario. At 2.8% annualized on 4.71 million ETH staked, it generates cash flows tied to Ethereum’s network utilization rather than its spot price. That yield does not protect against a serious correction, but it converts part of the position from pure price speculation into a yield-generating operation, changing the cost-of-carry calculus for a long-term holder willing to ride out volatility.

Macquarie’s Q2 2026 13F filing is due 45 days after June 30. If the Ethereum treasury stake grew as a share of the crypto book in the second quarter, the conviction call is deepening. If it shrank, the Q1 trade looks more like a tactical experiment than a structural shift in how one of Australia’s largest financial institutions thinks about crypto equity versus crypto wrappers.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Holdings in IBIT, ETHA, and BMNR involve significant financial risk, including the potential for total loss of invested capital. Consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Figures cited are accurate as of publication on May 21, 2026.