By The moment U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETFs went live last Thursday, they quietly achieved a major feat.
The digital asset has now become the second-largest ETF commodity in the country, boasting $26 billion managed behind the securities wrapper. That’s more than silver ETFs, which hold slightly over $11 billion, per VettaFi.
The Bitcoin ETF figure is based on data from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, showing that net flows to the funds have climbed by $1 billion within their first five days of trading.
LATEST: Day Five (but its felt like months hasn’t it?) is in books TOTAL ROLLING NET FLOWS at +$1.2b, down a bit after $GBTC‘s whopper -$582m edged out the Nine’s +$447m. $GBTC bloodbath up to -$2.2b vs the Nine’s +$3.3b w/ $6.6b in volume. $FBTC joins $IBIT in the Billy Club. pic.twitter.com/q6pFIrPTFV
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 19, 2024
That said, the vast majority of the ETFs’ Bitcoin holdings don’t sit with newly launched funds. Rather, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which was already traded as an investment trust in 2013, boasts $23.1 billion worth of assets in Bitcoin ETFs, as its coins were accumulated years in advance.
Since conversion into an ETF, Grayscale’s holders have been dumping their BTC to the tune of $500 million per day. While many of those assets have simply rotated into its newer competitors that charge lower management fees, analysts find the firm’s sell pressure hard to ignore.
Addressing the matter, Balchunas wrote to X:
“This is some serious daily outflows for The Nine to have to battle every single day… they’ve done a great job so far but damn its a lot to ask.”
Bitcoin Versus Silver and Gold
Bitcoin fell to a yearly low of $40,300 on Friday after tapping $49,000 last Thursday, shortly after the ETFs went live. Many investors believe the price drawdown confirms the ETF launches were a “sell the news” event.
Meanwhile, the prices of gold and silver have remained relatively steady this month, hovering close to $2000 and $22 per ounce, respectively.
Bitcoin is often compared to gold and silver as a monetary debasement hedge by the asset’s biggest boosters. Since applying to launch the Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has repeatedly characterized Bitcoin as “digital gold.”
Gold remains the largest commodity ETF in the United States, with related funds possessing $95 billion under management. The asset’s market cap is estimated to be $13.59 trillion, compared to Bitcoin’s $796 billion.
Despite approving Bitcoin ETFs, SEC chairman Gary Gensler argued last week that the asset shouldn’t be readily compared to gold. He wrote:
“The underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, while in contrast, bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.”
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