Key Insights:
- Bitcoin Exposure in IBIT’s SEC filings in Abu Dhabi was over $1B at year-end.
- Mubadala increased its share of IBIT to $12.7M, and Al Warda increased its holdings during Q4.
- IBIT dropped 22.5% YTD, reducing the combined exposure to approximately $803M at current prices.
Abu Dhabi Bitcoin exposure surpassed $1 billion at the end of last year, according to newly filed disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Regulatory filings show that two Abu Dhabi-linked investment entities, Mubadala Investments and Al Warda Investments, collectively held nearly 21 million shares of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Abu Dhabi Bitcoin Exposure Rises Through IBIT Accumulation
Mubadala’s position represented the larger share of the combined allocation. Based on reported values at the time, Mubadala’s IBIT holdings were worth roughly $630 million.
Moreover, Al Warda Investments, which is connected to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a Mubadala-affiliated entity, maintained an IBIT stake valued at approximately $408 million.
The filings describe the holdings in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot Bitcoin ETF offered by BlackRock that offers direct exposure to Bitcoin price changes.
Source: The Securities and Exchange Commission
On December 31, 2025, Mubadala owned about 12.7 million shares in IBIT, and Al Warda Investments owned over 8.2 million shares. The two entities jointly owned approximately 21 million IBIT shares at year-end.
However, quarter-to-quarter data show that Mubadala has augmented its holdings in the fourth quarter. According to the latest filing, it owns about 12.7 million IBIT shares, an increase of nearly 4 million from the last quarter. During the third-quarter reporting period, the company recorded about 8.7 million shares. The change records a significant increase in exposure in a single reporting cycle.
Al Warda Investments also reported growth, though at a smaller scale. The firm’s IBIT holdings rose from 7.96 million shares to more than 8.2 million shares during the fourth quarter, a gain of roughly 255,000 shares. Combined, the fourth-quarter additions from both entities materially increased total Abu Dhabi Bitcoin exposure through IBIT.
Mubadala, which counts the Abu Dhabi government as a shareholder, first added IBIT to its balance sheet during the fourth quarter of 2024. At that time, it’s reported that Bitcoin ETF exposure amounted to at least $436 million. The latest filings show that the position has since expanded significantly in both share count and dollar value.
Market Decline Reduces Current Valuation
While year-end filings placed the combined value of the two holdings above $1 billion, subsequent market performance has reduced their mark-to-market value. Shares of IBIT have declined 22.5% year to date amid a broader slide in Bitcoin prices.
At a recent IBIT price of $38.44, the two entities’ combined exposure stands at approximately $803 million. The decline reflects market movements rather than changes in reported share ownership. The most recent valuations are based on current trading prices, not on new filings.
The updated figure indicates that, although Abu Dhabi Bitcoin exposure exceeded $1 billion at year-end, price fluctuations have since adjusted the aggregate value of those holdings. No additional share changes have been disclosed beyond the fourth-quarter filings.
BlackRock and Coinbase Outline Staking Revenue Split for ETHB
In a separate regulatory development, BlackRock and Coinbase disclosed details regarding the revenue structure of BlackRock’s forthcoming staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund, ETHB. According to a document filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the two firms will collectively receive 18% of the fund’s staking revenue.
Under the structure described in the filing, ETHB will distribute 82% of staking rewards to investors. The remaining 18% will be split between BlackRock and Coinbase, which serves as the ETF’s prime execution agent. The filing states that the arrangement creates a financial incentive for the sponsor to maximize the amount of Ether staked by the trust.
ETHB is designed to stake between 70% and 95% of its Ether holdings. Staking rewards associated with ETHB were estimated at 2.8% annualized as of Tuesday.
Unlike earlier Ethereum ETFs approved by the SEC in early 2025, ETHB would incorporate staking yield into its structure. Those earlier products did not include staking rewards.
In May, the SEC issued guidance clarifying that certain staking products are not considered securities, providing a pathway for ETFs that incorporate staking mechanisms. The regulatory clarification followed the initial approval of spot Ethereum ETFs earlier in the year.
BlackRock’s existing Ethereum ETF, ETHA, holds more than $9.1 billion in assets under management, according to data from DefiLlama. Grayscale’s ETHE holds approximately $2.3 billion worth of Ether.
