Since their approval in January 2024, Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been steadily gaining traction in the United States, with issuers purchasing hundreds of thousands of BTC as their popularity spreads. This buying spree has led to a substantial accumulation of BTC by these issuers, with BlackRock leading the charge. As a result, the total number of BTC held by Spot Bitcoin ETFs is now approaching the one-million mark.
Currently, Spot Bitcoin ETFs hold 924,768 BTC. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved a total of 12 Spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading back in January 2024. In just eight months, these ETFs have managed to acquire over 4% of the total Bitcoin supply collectively, making them some of the largest holders of BTC. Among them, BlackRock’s IBIT has emerged as one of the largest buyers, surpassing even Grayscale’s GBTC, which had a 600,000 BTC head start. At present, Grayscale holds more than 350,000 BTC, positioning the firm as a top Bitcoin holder.
Grayscale remains in second place in terms of BTC holdings. However, the Bitcoin fund has experienced more outflows than inflows since January, losing more than half of its stash before the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale’s current holdings have dwindled to less than 250,000 BTC after losing over $20 billion to other Spot Bitcoin ETFs, mainly due to their lower fees.
Other Spot Bitcoin ETFs, such as Fidelity’s FBTC and the Ark Invest/21Shares ARKB, have also made significant strides, accumulating almost 50,000 BTC each. Collectively, these funds have garnered 924,768 BTC, bringing their total holdings within close reach of the one-million BTC milestone. Altogether, Spot Bitcoin ETFs now control nearly 4.685% of the total Bitcoin supply.
When examining the top addresses with the largest BTC holdings, the Satoshi Nakamoto wallet still holds the most, with 1.1 million BTC. However, this wallet has long been dormant and is often excluded from the list of top Bitcoin wallets due to its inactivity. According to BitInfoCharts, the Binance old wallet tops the active Bitcoin rich list with 248,598 BTC, valued at over $16.3 billion. The Bitfinex Hack Recovery wallet follows with 94,643 BTC, worth $6.2 billion. The Mt Gox Hack wallet ranks third with 79,957 BTC, valued at $5.2 billion. The wallet holding BTC confiscated from the Silk Road bust holds 69,370 BTC, worth $4.56 billion, and the Binance BTCB Reserve wallet contains 68,200 BTC, valued at $4.49 billion.
The BTC price has fallen below $65,000, according to Tradingview.com, underscoring the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the cryptocurrency market.
