New Bitcoin ETFs Gobble Up BTC, Leaving Grayscale in the Dust

• Spot ETFs amass 200,000 BTC in just one month, exceeding established players like MicroStrategy and Tether.
• The new ETF’s launched on Jan 11 are; BlackRock (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), Bitwise (BITB), Ark 21Shares (ARKB), Invesco (BTCO), VanEck (HODL), Valkyrie (BRRR), Franklin Templeton (EZBC) and WisdomTree (BTCW).
• Among these new ETFs, BlackRock’s IBIT reigns supreme with over 80,000 BTC, followed closely by Fidelity’s FBTC at 68,000 BTC.

The nine newborn U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have made a dramatic entrance, accumulating over 200,000 BTC (worth roughly $9.5 billion) in their first month. This impressive feat surpasses the holdings of major bitcoin entities like software giant MicroStrategy and stablecoin issuer Tether and collectively represents almost 1% of the total bitcoin supply.

The rapid growth of spot bitcoin ETFs signals a strong institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. The ease of access and lower fees they offer compared to Grayscale’s GBTC could be driving this trend. This development could further legitimize bitcoin and potentially fuel its future price movements.

IBIT claims top spot in bitcoin ETF trading

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Exposure UCITS ETF (IBIT) surpassed Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) in trading volume on Thursday, generating $481.6 million compared to GBTC’s $373.9 million. This marks a shift in the young bitcoin ETF landscape, with IBIT achieving this feat in less than a month since its launch.

GBTC Market Share Plummets

GBTC’s market share by trading volume has fallen dramatically. Dropping from a peak of 63.9% on January 17th to 29.1% on Thursday. This decline coincides with strong inflows for IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, which attracted $204.1 million and $128.3 million respectively on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Grayscale’s converted GBTC fund has experienced a significant decline in its holdings, dropping from around 619,000 BTC to 469,000 BTC since the launch of the spot ETFs. This translates to a decrease of nearly 25%, highlighting the shift in investor preferences towards the newer, more accessible options.

Bitcoin Investment Vehicles See Strongest Daily Inflow Since January 2021

The combined inflows for all spot bitcoin ETFs reached $405 million on Thursday, marking the strongest daily net inflow since January 2021. This surge in investment activity has pushed the total net flows for these vehicles to over $2.1 billion.

Bitcoin’s price has been on an upward trend, gaining 4.3% in the past 24 hours, 8% over the last week, and 10.7% year-to-date. This positive momentum aligns with the increased interest in bitcoin investment vehicles, suggesting a potential turning point in the market.