Issuers of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have significantly increased their Bitcoin holdings, with a notable addition of 10,667 Bitcoins on the fifth trading day due to increased trading volumes. As per data compiled on January 17 by the X (formerly Twitter) account CC15Capital, these issuers saw a $440 million rise in their net Bitcoin holdings by the day's end. The majority of this buying activity was dominated by BlackRock’s ETF, which alone purchased 8,700 Bitcoins, valued at nearly $358 million.
Since their inception, nine ETFs (excluding Grayscale) have collectively acquired about 68,500 BTC, now valued at approximately $2.8 billion. This recent influx of Bitcoin purchases by ETFs has been somewhat balanced by the ongoing outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). GBTC has sold about 10,824 Bitcoins, roughly equivalent to $445 million, since the transition to spot ETFs began on January 11. A total of nearly 38,000 BTC has exited GBTC during this period.
The introduction of these new spot Bitcoin ETFs, dubbed the “New Nine” by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, has led to a notable 34% surge in their daily trading volume by the fifth day of trading. It’s important to note that the Bitcoin purchase reports from ETF managers tend to lag behind the actual fund’s trading volume data due to the time taken for settlement of purchases.
BlackRock and Fidelity's Bitcoin ETFs, both part of the new funds attracting investor interest, have each amassed over $1 billion in assets under management as of January 18. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart points out that these funds rank fourth and fifth in weekly capital inflows among all U.S. ETFs. They are only surpassed by giants like the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF, which mirrors the returns of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. S&P 500 Index.
Lastly, Bitwise is the sole asset manager that reported its Bitcoin holdings on January 18, indicating an additional acquisition of 491 BTC on that day. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley expressed gratitude in a January 18 post, acknowledging the $20 million injected into BITB and thanking clients for their trust in managing their assets.
