UBS Boosts BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Call Options 24-Fold, Expands IBIT Exposure

CoinDesk reported on August 15 that UBS disclosed to regulators a call-option position linked to 1.95 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, as of the end of the second quarter. That was up from 80,000 shares at the end of the first quarter.

UBS also increased its direct holdings of IBIT over the same period. It held 407,890 shares at the end of the second quarter, up about 12% from 364,371 shares at the end of the first quarter. The position is valued at about $13.6 million.

Put options moved in the opposite direction. The underlying share count for those positions fell to 143,300 at the end of the second quarter from 303,300 at the end of the first quarter, a decline of about 53%. UBS's direct holdings also remained below the 548,614 shares it held at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025.

The filing did not include strike prices or expiration dates, making it difficult to determine UBS's net directional exposure. The positions may reflect client hedging, market-making activity, discretionary client portfolios or proprietary trading.

UBS, which manages more than $7 trillion in assets, has been preparing since early this year to provide some Swiss private-banking clients with access to trading in Bitcoin and Ether. The filing did not say whether that client-service expansion drove the increase in options positions.