Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, foresees a surge in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within wealth management firms. This foresight emerges amid projections of heightened momentum for Bitcoin ETFs post-halving.
Horsley’s foresight aligns with the prevailing market sentiment, indicating a burgeoning appetite for ETFs. Notably, investments in Bitcoin within the US ETF market exhibited a favorable net inflow just before the Bitcoin halving, following five consecutive days of drainage.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is narrowing the gap with Grayscale’s, approaching a mere $2 billion difference. This positions BlackRock favorably to potentially surpass Grayscale as the world’s leading Bitcoin fund. Conversely, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) witnessed a 68-day downtrend, shedding nearly $16 billion and reducing its assets to $19.4 billion.
Contrarily, IBIT sustained growth in its assets, totaling around $17.3 billion. However, notable capital outflows were observed from the Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF. Over the past five days alone, investors withdrew $89.9 million, contributing to a net outflow of $1.6 billion since January.
Despite its initial dominance, Grayscale’s supremacy in the Bitcoin ETF market seems to be diminishing. Fidelity and BlackRock swiftly garnered significant market shares since trading commenced. For instance, Fidelity and BlackRock Bitcoin ETFs witnessed net inflows of $37.3 million and $18.7 million, respectively, in the same week, alleviating some liquidity concerns in the market.
In related news, Bitcoin mining shares surged before the halving. Bitwise CEO characterizes the adoption of Bitcoin ETFs by registered investment advisors (RIAs) and multifamily offices as “stealth but significant.” He highlights that major financial institutions are quietly conducting extensive evaluations of the Bitcoin market.
According to Farside data, GBTC experienced outflows of $17.5 million on April 10, marking a significant decline from the $154.9 million recorded on April 9. The previous low occurred on February 26, with GBTC recording an outflow of $22.4 million. The average daily outflows for GBTC since January amount to $257.8 million.
GBTC, launched in 2015 and transformed into an ETF in January, along with the introduction of nine other spot Bitcoin ETFs, following Grayscale’s legal victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, compelling a review of the previously denied GBTC conversion offering.
Recently bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis liquidated approximately 36 million GBTC shares to acquire 32,041 Bitcoin.
