Swiss banking giant UBS has reported a more than 24-fold quarterly increase in call option exposure tied to BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), according to a regulatory filing made this week.
The bank, which manages over $7 trillion in assets, disclosed calls representing 1.95 million underlying IBIT shares as of June 30 — up from 80,000 underlying shares at the end of March. Call options give the holder the right to acquire shares at a set price at a later date.
Direct Holdings Also Rose
UBS's outright IBIT position climbed about 12% quarter-over-quarter to 407,890 shares, worth approximately $13.6 million, compared with 364,371 shares at the end of the first quarter. The direct position remains below the 548,614 shares the bank reported at the end of 2025.
Put option exposure moved in the opposite direction. UBS reported puts representing 143,300 underlying shares, down roughly 53% from 303,300 at the end of March.
The combination — swelling calls, shrinking puts, and growing direct holdings — points to a decisively more constructive Bitcoin stance from one of Europe's largest wealth managers during the second quarter.
Caveats in the Filing
The 13F filing does not clarify whether the increase stems from client initiatives, dealer hedging, market-making activity, or proprietary exposure. Strike prices and expirations are also absent, making it difficult to determine the bank's net directional exposure from the filing alone.
The disclosure adds UBS to a growing list of traditional financial institutions whose quarterly filings show deepening Bitcoin exposure through regulated ETF instruments. Last week, Paul Tudor Jones' investment firm also reported an increased stake in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF after a year of selling.