Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the darling of Wall Street, particularly within the AI space, and for good reason.
Thanks to its stranglehold on the AI chip market, where Nvidia holds a near-monopoly on the hardware needed to power artificial intelligence models, its shares are up 141.35% year-to-date, now trading at $116.26.
However, recent softness—a decline of 7.98% over the past month—has raised some eyebrows among analysts and investors.
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While Nvidia continues to dominate in AI, some of the biggest names in the hedge fund world are making moves that suggest they’re not putting all their eggs in one artificial intelligence basket.
Hedge fund managers jump into Bitcoin
Names like Steven Cohen at Point72, Israel Englander at Millennium Management, Ken Griffin at Citadel Advisors, and David Shaw at D.E. Shaw & Co. have started shifting gears, selling off millions of Nvidia shares in the first half of 2024 and diving headfirst into a new arena—Bitcoin.
They’re snapping up shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), an ETF that tracks the price of Bitcoin, and their combined moves have sparked a lot of chatter.
Why the shift? While AI is hot, the institutional interest in cryptocurrency is heating up, too. With Bitcoin’s recent rise to $63,581, up 7.30% in just a week, and the iShares Bitcoin Trust reaching $10 billion in assets faster than any other ETF in history, it’s clear that the crypto world is not just for tech enthusiasts anymore—it’s for the hedge fund titans, too.
Steven Cohen, for example, slashed his Nvidia holdings by 63%, selling 3.4 million shares, but quickly bought 1.6 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust. Similarly, Englander reduced his Nvidia stake by 38% and bought a whopping 10.8 million shares of the Bitcoin ETF. Griffin went even further, cutting his Nvidia position by 93%, while Shaw sold off 70% of his shares.
What does this mean for NVDA stock?
For Nvidia, this hedge fund activity signals a few key things. First, while Nvidia’s growth potential in AI remains undeniable, there is a recognition that valuations may have gotten stretched in the short term.
The recent pullback in its stock could be seen as a consolidation phase, especially after such an extraordinary run. Secondly, institutional investors are diversifying into other high-growth, high-risk assets—like Bitcoin—indicating a more cautious approach toward Nvidia’s valuation in the near term.
For retail investors, the takeaway is nuanced. Nvidia remains a strong play for long-term AI exposure, but its near-term stock trajectory may see some volatility as institutions rebalance their portfolios. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s institutional adoption continues to grow, reinforcing its status as a legitimate asset class.
But don’t get it twisted—these hedge fund moguls aren’t abandoning Nvidia entirely. AI is still a cornerstone of their portfolios, and Nvidia remains an important player. What’s clear, though, is that these savvy investors are hedging their bets, riding the wave of both AI and crypto—two of the most disruptive forces in the market today.
