Bitcoin Reaches New High as Binance Exits Nigeria; Grayscale's Holdings Drop 33%
Summary:
Bitcoin recently reached a new all-time high, trading above $69,200, while Binance announced its exit from the Nigerian market due to regulatory scrutiny. Meanwhile, despite its transformation into a Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale’s GBTC Bitcoin holdings witnessed a 33% decrease. Regardless, Bitcoin continues to perform strongly, nearing a previous peak on Coinbase.
Bitcoin (BTC) recently set a new record, surpassing the $69,000 mark for the first time since 2021. In a separate development, Binance, under regulatory scrutiny, announced its exit from the Nigerian market entirely. Meanwhile, since transforming into a Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale’s Bitcoin holdings, under GBTC, have reduced by 33%.
On March 5, Bitcoin momentarily traded more than $69,200, its highest price to date, concluding a remarkable two months of gains after the approval of spot exchange-traded funds. The prominent digital currency, having reached an unprecedented high 846 days after its last peak in 2021, saw a 348% increase from its low of roughly $15,400. Remarkably, this is the first time Bitcoin has reached new heights before the once-every-four-years halving, historically a significant price driver for the virtual asset. However, the excitement was short-lived as Bitcoin's price fell sharply on March 5, dropping to under $64,000.
Crypto expert and author Vijay Boyapati suggests, "Big sellers exploit the anticipation, selling into high liquidity moments. Crucially, the psychological barrier has been breached, paving the way for true price discovery".
Binance, a major worldwide cryptocurrency exchange, has decided to pull out of the Nigerian market, announcing the permanent discontinuation of all services in the Nigerian currency, the naira (NGN). On March 5, Binance officially declared that it will suspend NGN withdrawals after March 8. After this date, remaining NGN balances in users' Binance accounts will be automatically converted to the Tether (USDT) stablecoin. This announcement follows amidst the firm facing serious regulatory scrutiny in Nigeria.
Since converting into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in mid-January, Grayscale, the world's leading crypto asset manager, had nearly 33% of its Bitcoin holdings on GBTC withdrawn. On March 4, for the 36th consecutive day, GBTC experienced an outflow of 5,450 BTC or $368 million, resulting in a total outflow since its conversion to $9.26 billion.
Previously, Grayscale held around 620,000 BTC. The debut of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF enabled investors to reclaim their shares for Bitcoin - something the previous arrangement did not permit. Considering that GBTC charges higher fees than other ETFs, like BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, it did not help the case. Currently, the GBTC fund holds about 420,682 BTC worth an estimated $28.8 billion. However, despite the ongoing outflows, Bitcoin remains strong, nearing its all-time high of $68,990 on Coinbase.
This piece does not include investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trading undertakings entail risk, and readers are advised to perform their own research before making any decisions. Geraint Price, Sam Bourgi, and Felix Ng contributed additional reporting.
Published At
3/5/2024 10:01:49 PM
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