UAE’s Mubadala Raises Bitcoin ETF Stake 16% to $566 Million in Q1 2026

Crypto NewsPublished:May 16, 2026, 11:30 PMUAE’s Mubadala Raises Bitcoin ETF Stake 16% to $566 Million in Q1 2026

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company raised its stake in Blackrock’s Ishares bitcoin ETF by 16% in Q1 2026, disclosing ownership of 14.7 million shares valued at $565.6 million.

WRITTEN BYShiraz JagatiSHAREPublished: May 16, 2026, 11:30 PM

Key Takeaways

• Mubadala raised its IBIT stake 16% to 14.7 million shares ($566M) in Q1 2026, per SEC disclosures.
• The Abu Dhabi fund has added to its bitcoin ETF position every quarter since Q4 2024, starting at $436M.
• Combined Abu Dhabi sovereign holdings in Blackrock’s IBIT exceeded $1 billion as of late 2025.

Quarter by Quarter

Mubadala’s bitcoin ETF exposure has grown in every reporting period since it first appeared in disclosures. The fund entered in Q4 2024 with a position worth approximately $436 million, scaled back in portfolio value terms to $408.5 million in Q1 2025 as bitcoin prices adjusted, then surged to $630.6 million by December 31, 2025, as bitcoin crossed $100,000.

The Q1 2026 figure of $566 million reflects a continued increase in shares held (up 16%) even as the dollar value dipped slightly from Q4 2025 levels. That divergence is explained by bitcoin’s price, given that the fund held more shares at the end of Q1 2026 than it did three months prior, but those shares were worth less in dollar terms due to a bitcoin price decline from its late-2025 highs.

Broader Abu Dhabi Picture

Mubadala is not the only Abu Dhabi sovereign vehicle accumulating bitcoin ETF exposure. Al Warda Investments, an entity affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, separately reported 8.2 million IBIT shares worth approximately $408 million (as of Q4 2025).

As Bitcoin.com News reported, the combined IBIT holdings of Abu Dhabi-linked sovereign entities crossed $1 billion by the end of last year, a threshold that underlines the emirate’s systematic approach to bitcoin as a reserve asset.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council had also significantly expanded its own direct position, tripling its IBIT holdings in Q3 2025 alone, one of the largest single-quarter expansions recorded among sovereign buyers of the ETF.

Sovereign wealth fund allocations to bitcoin ETFs carry weight beyond the dollar figures because when a government-backed institution of Mubadala’s scale adds to a position every quarter for five consecutive periods, it indirectly implies long-term strategic conviction.

Blackrock’s IBIT remains the largest spot bitcoin ETF in the world by assets under management, holding over 600,000 BTC as of April 2026 (three times the amount held by second-place Fidelity). Sovereign buyers, including Mubadala and Norway’s Norges Bank, have all appeared in recent 13-F disclosures as IBIT holders, reinforcing the ETF’s role as the institutional entry point of choice for nation-state-level bitcoin exposure.

Tags in this storyabu dhabiBitcoin (BTC)BlackrockETFUnited Arab Emirates