Bitcoin ETFs have reached a significant milestone, holding over one million BTC, which is valued at $69 billion and accounts for 5.076% of the circulating supply of the top cryptocurrency. This impressive growth in the sector continues, with Grayscale remaining at the top, although BlackRock is quickly catching up and is expected to surpass GBTC this week. Non-US ETFs also play a significant role in the sector’s expansion.
Since their launch in mid-January, spot ETFs have been acquiring over 6,000 BTC daily. To put this into perspective, miners only produce 450 BTC per day since the halving in April reduced the reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Currently, the ETFs hold a total of 1,002,343 BTC, which is worth over $68 billion.
Despite experiencing daily losses since January, Grayscale remains the largest ETF, holding 289,040 BTC valued at just under $20 billion. However, BlackRock’s IBIT is steadily closing the gap and currently holds just two thousand fewer Bitcoin, totaling $19.8 billion in assets under management. If the current trend continues, IBIT is expected to surpass Grayscale and become the world’s largest digital asset ETF this week.
Fidelity is another major player in the sector, holding over 161,000 BTC, worth just over $11.1 billion. ARK 21Shares and Bitwise are the only other US issuers with ETFs that hold over 10,000 BTC, with Cathie Wood’s investment firm having a slight advantage over the San Francisco-based crypto investment manager.
In total, American ETFs hold 855,619 BTC. Canada has the largest ETF outside of the US, with the Purpose Bitcoin ETF holding over 27,000 BTC valued at $1.87 billion. Germany, Switzerland, the Channel Islands, and the Jersey Islands are also notable players in the sector.
While Hong Kong made a splash with the launch of its ETFs, its largest product holds just over 1,500 BTC, worth $108 million, which is not enough to rank among the top 25 ETFs globally. However, Hong Kong remains optimistic about the future of its ETFs and has defended against accusations of underwhelming investor interest.
As for the future of Bitcoin, the introduction of ETFs led to a price surge that pushed BTC to an all-time high in March. However, the cryptocurrency has struggled to gain momentum since then. Currently trading at $68,388, BTC has been trading sideways over the past day with a slight dip on the weekly chart. Its market cap is now slightly above $1.3 trillion, and its dominance remains above 52%.
Some analysts believe that it is only a matter of time before institutional investors pour their money into Bitcoin due to game theory. This theory suggests that rational actors will make decisions based on the actions of their peers to maximize their interests. In the case of Bitcoin, institutional players are likely to invest billions once they see their counterparts doing the same. Already, major players like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, the State of Wisconsin, George Soros, BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton have entered the market. Following game theory, it won’t be long before others follow suit and push BTC to new heights.