Hunter Horsley, the CEO of Bitwise, has made a prediction about wealth management firms increasing their holdings of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This prediction coincides with the growing popularity of Bitcoin ETFs following the recent halving event. Horsley’s prediction aligns with the general belief that the demand for ETFs is on the rise. In fact, there was a net inflow of Bitcoin investments into the US ETF market just before the halving, after five consecutive days of outflows.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is slowly closing the gap with Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), with just a $2 billion difference in total holdings. This puts BlackRock in a position to potentially surpass Grayscale as the largest Bitcoin fund in the world. While GBTC experienced a significant decline in value over 68 days, losing nearly $16 billion, IBIT saw continuous growth and now has approximately $17.3 billion in assets.
Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF has been experiencing notable capital outflows. In just the past five days, investors have withdrawn $89.9 million, contributing to a total net outflow of $1.6 billion since January. This suggests that Grayscale’s dominance in the Bitcoin ETF market may be diminishing. Fidelity and BlackRock, Have quickly gained market shares and saw net inflows of $37.3 million and $18.7 million, respectively, in the same week.
According to Horsley, the adoption of Bitcoin ETFs by registered investment advisers (RIAs) and multifamily offices has been significant but discreet. Major financial institutions are quietly conducting thorough assessments of the Bitcoin market. Data from Farside shows that GBTC had outflows of $17.5 million on April 10, a significant decrease from the previous day’s outflows of $154.9 million. The lowest outflow in recent months was on February 26, with $22.4 million leaving GBTC. On average, GBTC has experienced daily outflows of $257.8 million since January.
GBTC first launched in 2015 and converted to an ETF in January after Grayscale won a lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This victory forced the SEC to review GBTC’s conversion bid, which it had previously denied. Recently, the bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis sold approximately 36 million GBTC shares to acquire 32,041 Bitcoin.
The net inflow of Bitcoin investments into the US ETF market just before the halving is impressive! It seems like investors didn’t want to miss out.
The sale of GBTC shares by Genesis indicates their confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term potential. It’s a bold move.
The continuous growth of IBIT is a testament to Bitcoin’s resilience as an investment. 💪 It keeps proving the skeptics wrong.