U.S. Global Investors held nearly $570,000 worth of GBTC in the second quarter

According to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 30, US Global Investors (NASDAQ: GROW) disclosed that as of June 30, 2021, three of the company's eight mutual funds held more than US$566,389 worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), of which the Gold and Precious Metals Fund held US$302,899 of GBTC, the World Precious Metals Fund held US$302,899 of GBTC, and the Global Resources Fund held US$40,958 of GBTC.

Global Investors has a large amount of investment exposure to natural resources such as gold, minerals, precious metals, and oil. Given that the gold and precious metals fund alone manages approximately $158 million in assets, the company's exposure to Bitcoin accounts for at most 0.19% of the fund's net assets. As of the first quarter of 2021, the company's assets under management were $4.6 billion.

“This is not surprising, nor does it indicate a change in sentiment among other gold stock managers regarding cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin,” said gold investor Peter Schiff.

He noted that Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors, is also the executive chairman of crypto mining company Have Blockchain.

Holmes, who likes gold as much as Schiff, previously predicted that Bitcoin and Ethereum prices could reach $80,000 and $3,000, respectively, in 2021. While Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $64,899 in April, ETH’s price far exceeded his predictions, reaching an all-time high of $4,384 in May.

Whatever the reason (hedge against inflation, respond to investor interest), other major investment firms have bought GBTC. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as of June 30, 2021, more than 30 portfolio funds under banking giant Morgan Stanley held more than 1 million shares of GBTC.

Edge Wealth Management disclosed its ownership of 54,134 shares of GBTC in its 13F-HR form filed with the U.S. SEC, an increase of 43.95% from the 37,605 shares it held in April.

In addition, Ark Investments continued to increase its holdings of GBTC. Rothschild Investments increased its holdings of GBTC by 103,059 shares, bringing its total GBTC holdings to $4.2 million.