Coinspeaker
Recently Launched Spot Bitcoin ETFs, Excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, Surpass MicroStrategy’s BTC Holdings
The recently launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States have continued to attract more attention from wealth managers as expected. The presence of top-tier fund managers led by BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) in the spot Bitcoin ETF arena has significantly helped increase Bitcoin’s bullish traction. According to the latest market data as of this publication, the several fund managers approved for spot Bitcoin ETFs, excluding Grayscale Investments’ GBTC, now hold more than 192k Bitcoins. With Bitcoin’s circulating supply at about 19.6 million, the spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, excluding GBTC, own almost 1 percent of the circulating supply.
Notably, Grayscale’s GBTC held 470,000 Bitcoins worth about $21.2 billion as of this report and has been experiencing notable outflow precisely due to its high fees. Meanwhile, the spot Bitcoin ETF issuers, excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, now hold more Bitcoins than MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR), which reported holdings of about 190,000 Bitcoins during its latest quarterly report. The high cash inflow to spot Bitcoin ETFs has, however, raised concerns about the centralization of the flagship coin.
“It could become an issue if too much BTC ends up becoming highly concentrated in any one country or company, but even with the likes of MicroStrategy and these ETFs, the concentration of coins held by these entities is not a risk to the Bitcoin Network,” Markus Levin, head of operations at California tech startup XY Labs and co-founder of XYO, noted.
Bitcoin Price Action and Market Outlook
Bitcoin (BTC) has continued to assert its global market dominance amid the confirmed macro bull rally. With major stock indexes – led by the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index- having spiked to their respective all-time highs, market experts have opined that it is only a matter of time before Bitcoin follows the same path. Moreover, the correlation between major stock indexes and top-tier cryptocurrencies has been higher in the past years, fueled by mass adoption from institutional investors.
Bitcoin’s price has led the altcoin market in a macro bullish outlook, with the fourth halving event expected to happen in mid-April 2024. As a result, Bitcoin price has been attempting to rally towards its all-time high (ATH) following today’s spike beyond $46.3k. The anticipated pre-halving Bitcoin rally could end up happening sooner amid the heightened buying pressure. Furthermore, cash inflow to Bitcoin investment products has accelerated in the last few weeks. Additionally, Bitcoin price on the weekly time frame recently recorded its first golden cross between the 50 and 200 Moving Averages (MA), which signals the macro bulls are in control.
