UBS has radically increased its bet on bitcoin's rise: exposure to call options has grown 24-fold.
Swiss banking giant UBS is demonstrating an impressive shift in its investment strategy regarding digital assets. According to my analysis of fresh portfolio disclosure data, by the end of the second quarter, the bank held call options on 1.95 million shares of BlackRock's spot bitcoin-focused exchange-traded fund IBIT. This is a colossal jump compared to the 80,000 shares recorded a quarter earlier — an increase of roughly 24 times.
Such aggressive expansion in derivatives clearly indicates that UBS is betting on further growth of the first cryptocurrency. Notably, the bank did not just increase its speculative component but also strengthened its position in the underlying asset. Direct ownership of IBIT shares grew by 12% over the quarter, reaching 407,890 shares. Based on my calculations, using end-of-June prices, this is equivalent to approximately $13.6 million in direct investments.
Even more telling is the bank's behavior regarding downside protection. Exposure to put options, which insure the portfolio against price declines, decreased by 53% — to 143,300 shares. This dynamic — simultaneously increasing "bullish" calls and sharply reducing "bearish" puts — forms an unambiguous signal of the institutional player's high confidence in an upward trend.
My expert commentary: UBS's actions are not just hedging but a clear marker of market maturity. Institutions have stopped perceiving bitcoin as a purely speculative asset and are beginning to use it within complex options strategies. The reduction of puts amid rising calls suggests that the bank expects not just stability but specifically directional upward movement. In the current macroeconomic context, this is one of the strongest bullish signals from traditional capital in recent months.