Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company raised its stake in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to 14,721,917 shares worth $565.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 16% increase from the previous quarter. The move extends an unbroken streak of quarterly additions that began in late 2024, when the sovereign wealth fund first disclosed a $436 million position. Combined with affiliate Al Warda Investments, Mubadala's IBIT holdings topped $1 billion as of December 31, 2025 — a milestone for Gulf sovereign participation in regulated Bitcoin products.
Mubadala's growing bet on Bitcoin ETFs
The Q1 2026 filing shows Mubadala added roughly 2 million shares compared to its Q4 2025 holdings of 12,702,323 shares. That's a 16% increase in three months. The fund first appeared in IBIT disclosures in Q4 2024, and it hasn't looked back since. Al Warda, the Mubadala-linked entity, held another 8.2 million IBIT shares worth about $408 million at the end of 2025. Together, the two vehicles represent one of the largest sovereign wealth fund exposures to a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF.
Other institutional heavyweights
Mubadala isn't alone in loading up on Bitcoin exposure through traditional finance vehicles. Goldman Sachs disclosed roughly $2.36 billion in total crypto exposure through IBIT and other products as of Q4 2025. Jane Street reported 20.3 million IBIT shares valued at $790 million at the same point. The numbers show Wall Street's appetite for the ETF hasn't cooled, even as Bitcoin's price has seen its share of volatility this year.
Gulf sovereigns and the U.S. strategic reserve
The Mubadala news lands in a year when the U.S. itself jumped into Bitcoin holdings. Texas became the first U.S. state to purchase Bitcoin for a strategic reserve during 2025. Meanwhile, the Trump family trust acquired shares in Coinbase, MARA Holdings, and Strategy in Q1 2026, with total trades between $220 million and $750 million. The sovereign wealth fund's consistent buying suggests a longer-term view — one that treats IBIT as a straightforward allocation rather than a trade.
The Q2 2026 filing deadline is still weeks away. Whether Mubadala keeps the streak alive will depend on market conditions and the fund's internal allocation targets. But with over half a billion dollars in IBIT alone, the Abu Dhabi fund has made its bet clear. No one at Mubadala has offered public commentary, but the pattern speaks for itself: steady accumulation, quarter after quarter.
