Aug 14 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Morgan

Stanley ( MS ) purchased a total of more than $600 million in

spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the second

quarter, regulatory filings showed on Wednesday.

The two banks joined a group of hedge funds and

financial advisers that have waded into the products, which

began trading in January 2024.

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) said in its quarterly disclosure to the

Securities and Exchange Commission, known as a 13-F filing, that

it had acquired about $418 million in several of the recently

launched ETFs tied to the price of spot bitcoin.

Most of that sum reflected a stake of nearly 7 million

shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust, valued at about

$238 million as of the end of the quarter, June 30. Goldman also

took sizeable stakes in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF

and the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, and

smaller positions in several other bitcoin ETFs launched in

January.

Morgan Stanley ( MS ) also favored BlackRock's iShares bitcoin ETF,

disclosing a 5.5 million share stake that was valued at $188

million as of June 30. The bank also disclosed smaller holdings

in the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and Grayscale Bitcoin

Trust.

The 13F filings are one of the few ways to get a

snapshot of how institutional investors are positioned at the

end of every quarter. The positions may not reveal current

holdings.

While the latest round of filings show the array of

institutions in bitcoin ETFs may be growing

, ETF issuers and analysts have said that so far, the

products have mostly been

dominated by individual investors

.

Neither bank could be reached for comment on whether

their positions were acquired on behalf of clients or for each

firm's own account.

Some of the hedge funds that had established positions in

the bitcoin ETFs earlier this year adjusted their holdings over

the course of the second quarter, filings showed.

New York-based Hunting Hill Global Capital trimmed its

exposure to both the Grayscale and Fidelity ETFs, but as of June

30 had a $18.32 million stake in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF

and acquired a new $25.6 million position in

BlackRock's ETF.

Adam Guren, founder and CEO of Hunting Hill, said his firm

is an active trader of bitcoin products. "At any given time our

trading activity can vary, and therefore our positions may

shift," he said.

New York-based Millennium Management LLC disclosed that it

cut its positions in three of the five bitcoin ETFs in which

held stakes in the first quarter, while its exposure to the Ark

21Shares ETF was unchanged, and it increased holdings in the

Bitwise product to nearly 2 million shares from about 1.2

million shares at the end of the first quarter.

Overall, the hedge fund had about $1.15 billion invested in

the bitcoin ETFs at the end of the second quarter, down from the

$2 billion it disclosed at the end of the first quarter. A

spokesman for the firm declined to comment.

The price of bitcoin fell 12% during the quarter.