BTC ETFs see Major Activity: Grayscale Sells Off, Others Hoard Bitcoin Post-Launch
Summary:
After its trading debut, Grayscale's Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) offloaded over 80,000 BTC while nine other spot BTC ETFs collectively purchased over 100,000 BTC. Data reveals BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC led spot BTC ETFs in purchases. However, GBTC, leading in BTC holdings, actively sold off BTC since its launch. This coincided with a significant drop in Bitcoin's price, and analysts suggest GBTC's high trading fees might have facilitated the outflows.
Grayscale's Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) offloaded a staggering 80,000 BTC just days after its trading debut. However, nine other spot BTC ETFs together scooped up in excess of 100,000 BTC. Spot Bitcoin ETFs such as BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) reportedly bought 102,613 BTC within a week from Jan. 11, as per ETF data verified by Cointelegraph. Based on CoinGecko's calculations, these purchases are valued around $4.1 billion.
Such a massive BTC accumulation by these spot Bitcoin ETFs within a week represents 53% of total Bitcoin acquired by the major BTC investor MicroStrategy in the last three years. MicroStrategy's latest BTC acquisition report indicates that it owned 189,150 BTC as of Dec. 26, 2023. Since its first Bitcoin acquisition in August 2020, It took MicroStrategy about 300 days to surpass the 100,000 BTC mark, as announced in June 2021.
According to available information, BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC emerged as the leading Bitcoin investors among spot BTC ETFs after their trading debut, securing 37,304 BTC and 29,232 BTC respectively. Following them are Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), acquiring 16,451 BTC and 10,630 BTC respectively.
Contrary to the other Bitcoin ETFs, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC), which holds the most BTC among Bitcoin ETFs, has been consistently disposing BTC since its trading debut, offloading a total of 82,526 BTC. This equals to nearly $3 billion based on current values.
This sizable offloading by GBTC has led to a considerable fall in Bitcoin's price, with the cryptocurrency losing close to 20% in value, falling from more than $48,000 on Jan. 11 to almost $38,700 on Jan. 23, as per CoinGecko data. As the time of reporting, Bitcoin is priced at $39,926, marking a 1.8% increase over the last 24 hours.
Some insiders have connected GBTC's selling to the liquidation of the defunct FTX crypto exchange's estate, which offloaded GBTC shares worth $902 million. Various analysts have also speculated that the unusually high trading fees charged by GBTC might have instigated the outflows. GBTC allegedly imposes a fee of up to 1.5% for trading without any waivers. In contrast, other ETF sponsors reportedly charge a fee in the range of 0.2% to 0.4%, along with offering temporary waivers.
Published At
1/24/2024 1:43:42 PM
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