- Asset management giants like BlackRock are dominating the Bitcoin ETF landscape, with substantial inflows and holdings exceeding $6 billion.
- Meanwhile, contrasting trends between Bitcoin and Gold ETFs underscore Bitcoin’s growing appeal as a hedge against traditional financial assets.
This week the crypto community has witnessed mega inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs, with the ETF issuers hitting new records. On Thursday, February 15, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $377 million.
Combining all Bitcoin Spot ETFs, the sponsors currently hold 728,000 BTC, valued at $37 billion as of the present moment. Of these, 61,000 Bitcoin inflow have happened just over the last week. This indicates that BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and other entities collectively possess approximately 3.7 percent of the total Bitcoin volume in circulation.
Holdings of the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETFs have crossed $6 billion while the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF registered the second-largest day since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETF. On Thursday, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) witnessed an impressive inflow of $339.9 million, making it the top performer. Following closely is Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) with a $120.2 million inflow. However, the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) experienced a further slowdown in inflows, totaling $97.4 million.
Asset management giant BlackRock continues to outpace its competitors by a significant margin, with a total inflow surpassing $5.17 billion and BTC holdings amounting to 115,991.3, valued at over $6 billion. The BlackRock and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETFs currently hold BTCs worth over $10.3 billion. These ETFs are acquiring 10,000 Bitcoin per day, in addition to the standard equilibrium, which is contributing to price appreciation.
GBTC experienced a larger outflow of $174.6 million, up from Wednesday’s $131.2 million. Consequently, the net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs, excluding GBTC, amounted to $652 million.
Bitcoin Demand Outweighs Supply By 10x
On Friday, Vetle Lunde, a senior analyst at K33 Research, revealed that the net U.S. spot ETF flow has exceeded 100,000 BTC. This figure is equivalent to two-thirds of the anticipated annual reduction in BTC issuance following the upcoming halving.
Bitcoin maximalist Samson Mow expressed apprehensions regarding the heightened demand from spot Bitcoin ETFs. He cautioned, “This level of demand is not sustainable at current Bitcoin prices.” The demand has surpassed the supply by more than 10 times, even when accounting for additional sources. MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor also highlighted a 10-fold difference between demand and supply dynamics in a recent interview.
We’re witnessing total acceleration of #BTC ETF inflows.
First 20 days of Trading ~ 42K BTC Inflows
Last 4 Days of trading ~ 43k BTC Inflows
— Thomas | heyapollo.com (@thomas_fahrer) February 15, 2024
While Bitcoin spot ETFs continue to see net inflows, Gold ETFs have registered net outflows. Renowned Bitcoin analyst Jameson Lopp recently shared a chart comparing the performance of gold and Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sparking curiosity about the sentiments of gold investor and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff.
The discrepancy between the two assets has widened further due to the declining gold prices observed in 2024. Since the start of the year, gold has seen a decline of 3.4%, hitting a two-month low of $1,993 per ounce on February 14th. Conversely, Bitcoin’s price has surged by 23.5% during the same period, reaching a two-year high of $52,483 on February 14th.
Can someone do a wellness check on @PeterSchiff? pic.twitter.com/mUc2xGwK2j
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) February 14, 2024
