BlackRock Continues To Buy Bitcoin: Holdings Now Reach 358,000 BTC Worth $22 Billion

In less than nine months since the launch of its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) following the approval of these investment vehicles by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asset manager BlackRock has established itself as the world’s largest Bitcoin fund.  A Tale Of Two Titans In Bitcoin And Ethereum Holdings According to on-chain data from blockchain analysis platform Arkham, BlackRock has aggressively expanded its Bitcoin holdings through its ETF, known as IBIT over the last months.  Despite recent market volatility that saw significant dips in Bitcoin’s price on August 5 and September 6, BlackRock continued to buy more Bitcoin, thereby supporting not only the tokens value but also its own asset base.  Related Reading: Ethereum Gains On Bitcoin Following Fed Rate Cut: Altseason Soon? As of September 25, BlackRock’s holdings have reached approximately 358,000 BTC, valued at around $22.76 billion, representing about 1.70% of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million. In comparison, BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings exceed those of Grayscale, another major crypto asset manager in the industry, by nearly 100,000 BTC. Grayscale currently holds approximately 258,671 BTC, valued at $16.45 billion, highlighting the significant gap that BlackRock has created in the BTC investment landscape. While BlackRock has taken a commanding lead in Bitcoin, Grayscale maintains an advantage in Ethereum (ETH) holdings. Arkham’s data indicates that Grayscale possesses 2.104 million ETH, valued at roughly $5.45 billion based on the current trading price of $2,600 per ETH. In contrast, BlackRock’s Ethereum holdings amount to only 349,970 ETH, valued at approximately $910 million. BlackRock Strengthens Bitcoin Stance BlackRocks support for Bitcoin extends beyond mere investment; it includes a strong endorsement of the technology underpinning the cryptocurrency. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Robbie Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, challenged the prevailing notion that Bitcoin should be categorized as a risk-on asset.  During Tuesday’s interview, Mitchnick noted that while Bitcoin has recently shown a high correlation with US equities, this relationship may be misleading. The head of digital assets at BlackRock noted that risk-on assets, such as stocks, commodities, and high-yield bonds, perform well during periods of market optimism and economic growth. Conversely, assets like gold are sought after in times of uncertainty, providing a safe haven for investors.  Mitchnick drew parallels between Bitcoin and gold, saying “gold shows a lot of the same patterns”, referring to their temporary correlations with equities. He emphasized that the long-term correlation between BTC and traditional financial assets is close to zero. Related Reading: Solana (SOL) Consolidates in Symmetrical Triangle Analyst Reveals $160 Target On Breakout One of BTC’s defining characteristics is its decentralized nature, Mitchnick added. No single country or government controls it, he said, which adds to its appeal as a global monetary alternative.  Mitchnick went on to highlight Bitcoin’s scarcity, global reach and decentralized framework, describing it as a “non-sovereign asset”. He pointed out that BTC has no specific country risk and no counterparty risk, making it a compelling option for investors looking to diversify their portfolios. At the time of writing, the largest cryptocurrency on the market has given back some of the gains made during Tuesday’s trading session, after hitting a one-month high of $64,700. Currently, BTC is trading at $63,220, down a slight 0.3% over the 24-hour period. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

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Bitcoin Surges Above $57,000, But Investors Still Shorting: Fuel For More Rise?

Data shows derivatives exchange users are still shorting Bitcoin after the recovery that the cryptocurrency has enjoyed beyond the $57,000 mark. Bitcoin Funding Rate Is Still Negative On Major Exchanges According to data from the analytics firm Santiment, investors have been shorting BTC for the last few days. The indicator of interest here is the [...]

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Bitcoin Funding Rates Turn Negative: Shorts Turn To Get Squeezed?

Data shows the Bitcoin funding rates on exchanges have turned negative, a sign that the shorts have now become the dominant force in the market. Bitcoin Funding Rates Have Turned Negative After Market Crash As pointed out by an analyst in a CryptoQuant Quicktake post, the Bitcoin funding rates have seen a sharp decline recently. The “funding rate” refers to a metric that keeps track of the periodic fee that derivatives contract holders are currently exchanging with each other. When the value of this indicator is positive, it means the long investors are paying a premium to the short ones in order to hold onto their positions. Such a trend implies a bullish sentiment is shared by the majority in the sector. Related Reading: Chainlink (LINK) Recovers 20% As Network Lights Up With Activity On the other hand, the metric being negative implies a bearish mentality could be the dominant one in the market as the short holders outweigh the longs. Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in this Bitcoin indicator for all exchanges over the past few months: As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin funding rate had been positive throughout the year 2024, save for a couple of small dips into the negative region, until this latest crash, which finally took the indicator to notable red values. The earlier positive values were naturally due to the fact that the market had a bullish atmosphere to it, so the average investor was trying to bet on the price to rise. From the graph, it’s visible that this positive sentiment was the strongest during the rally to the all-time high (ATH) price fueled by the spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) demand. During the consolidation period that had followed this rally, BTC had seen a couple of notable drawdowns, but they weren’t enough to shake off the bullish mood. The recent sharp crash, though, appears to have finally caused investors to have a bearish outlook on the cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin crash had resulted in a huge amount of long liquidations in the market, triggering what’s known as a squeeze. In a squeeze event, a sharp swing in the price causes mass liquidations, which in turn fuels the price move further. This then unleashes a cascade of more liquidations. Since the latest such event involved the longs, it would be called a long squeeze. In general, an event of this kind is more likely to affect the side of the derivatives market that is more dominant. As this power balance has shifted towards the shorts now, it’s possible that the market could instead see a short squeeze in the near future. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin In A Bear Market Now? Heres What On-Chain Data Suggests Naturally, it’s not necessary that a short squeeze should take place, but if the price ends up witnessing some volatility, it’s possible it may end up punishing the short-heavy market. BTC Price Bitcoin has been steadily making recovery from the crash as its price has now climbed back to $57,500. Featured image from Dall-E, CryptoQuant.com, chart from TradingView.com

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BlackRock Global Allocation Fund Reveals Major Bitcoin ETF Stake With 43,000 Shares

In a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund disclosed its ownership of 43,000 shares of the asset managers Bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust, as of April 30.  This announcement follows two previous filings by BlackRock on May 28, which disclosed the funds exposure to Bitcoin in [...]

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Bitcoin Network Fundamentals Could Sustain $265,000 Price, CryptoQuant CEO Explains

The CEO of analytics firm CryptoQuant has explained how the Bitcoin network fundamentals could support a market cap three times the current size. Bitcoin Hashrate/Market Cap Ratio Could Reveal Ceiling For Cycle In a new post on X, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju has talked about what the network fundamentals could reveal about [...]

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BlackRock Overtakes Grayscale To Become The Largest Bitcoin Fund In The World With $20 Billion AUM

American multinational investment company BlackRock, has recently achieved a monumental milestone, recording over $20 billion in total assets. The BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF has successfully surpassed Grayscale to become the largest Bitcoin fund in the world.  BlackRock Overtakes Grayscale  BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust has recently become the worlds largest Bitcoin fund, overtaking its primary rival, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).  Related Reading: Shiba Inu Open Interest Explodes 85% Amid 15% Price Jump, Why This Is Important As of Tuesday, May 28, BlackRocks Spot Bitcoin ETF held around $19.68 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM), overthrowing Grayscales Bitcoin ETF with $19.65 billion and surpassing the third largest, Fidelity Investments, which recorded $11.1 billion in AUM. Over the past two days, BlackRock has recorded more inflows, pushing its AUM to more than $20 billion presently.  Following the launch of its Spot Bitcoin ETF on January 11, Grayscale has consistently recorded massive outflows worth billions of dollars. For years, the asset management company was the worlds largest Bitcoin fund, reaching a peak of about $44 billion in 2021.  However, since its conversion into an ETF at the beginning of 2024, investors have pulled out almost $18 billion from Grayscales Bitcoin fund. On May 3, GBTC recorded its first inflow, receiving approximately $63 million, and effectively ending its 82-day streak of outflows.  Its previous outflows had already significantly weakened Grayscales position as the largest Bitcoin ETF. In contrast, BlackRocks Spot Bitcoin ETF has been recording millions of inflows since its launch, making it unsurprising that IBIT has eventually surpassed Grayscales GBTC. BlackRock has only recorded a handful of outflows and minimal zero flows. Its highest recorded inflow occurred on March 12, with IBIT gathering approximately $849 million in a single day. Additionally, BlackRocks Spot Bitcoin ETF witnessed its first outflow on May 1, losing about $36.9 million. On the same day, Grayscale had reported outflows of more than $167 million.  Investors are likely favoring BlackRocks Spot Bitcoin ETF due to its relatively affordable ETF management fees, which decreased from 0.30% to 0.25%. On the other hand, Grayscale has the highest ETF management fees among all the 11 approved United States Spot Bitcoin ETFs.  While the asset management company has promised to slash fees, Grayscales Bitcoin Trust’s current ETF management fees remain as high as 1.5% annually. Still Leading Spot Bitcoin ETF Net Inflows According to Farside data, for the past week, BlackRock has been leading the Spot Bitcoin ETF race, recording the most inflows out of the 11 Spot Bitcoin ETFs.  Related Reading: Shiba Inu Price Prediction: SHIB Shows Unusually High Strength Against Dogecoin Excluding May 27, when all United States Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw zero flows, BlackRock recorded a total of $127.1 million for the first two days. BlackRocks Bitcoin Trust saw $102.5 million in inflows on Wednesday, while Grayscales Spot Bitcoin ETF witnessed outflows of $105.2 million. Currently, Grayscale is still recording more outflows, losing $31.1 million as of writing. Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com

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4 reasons why Bitcoin was (and still is) a buy below $70K

Technical chart patterns suggest that Bitcoin could see more upside momentum in the following weeks, mirroring previous bull cycles.

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Bitcoin Sees 4th Dip in Funding Rates This Year What Does This Mean For BTC?

Bitcoins recovery continues to show momentum, with the asset currently trading at $94,288 after gaining 1.6% over the past 24 hours. The price has now risen nearly 15% over the past two weeks, reversing a previous correction phase and pushing BTC closer to retesting the $100,000 price mark. Amid the price performance, recent market analysis points to diverging signals between BTC’s funding rate behavior and growing confidence among US-based investors. Related Reading: Bitcoin Whales Back In Full Force For The Rally, Glassnode Reveals Bitcoin Funding Rates Drop Despite Rising Prices According to Nino, an analyst from CryptoQuant,  the Bitcoin funding ratetypically used to gauge sentiment in the perpetual futures BTC market has again dipped into negative territory, even as whale accumulation continues on major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. Nino particularly identified a notable development in Bitcoins derivatives market. The 72-hour average of BTC funding rates, including moving average indicators (MA, EMA, WMA), has entered negative territory for the fourth time this year. Funding rates refer to periodic payments made between long and short positions on perpetual futures contracts, with negative rates meaning short positions are paying long positions. This generally reflects that the market is either positioning defensively or becoming cautious at current price levels. What makes this instance notable is that previous dips into negative funding rates occurred at lower price levels, whereas the current shift has taken place above $94,000. Nino suggests this may point to potential market exhaustion or a phase of profit-taking, where short traders are more active despite upward price movement. If volatility increases and funding rates remain suppressed, a spike in liquidations could follow, especially if open interest in leveraged positions expands rapidly. Coinbase Premium and Whale Behavior Reflect US Investor Activity In a separate analysis, CryptoQuant analyst Crypto Dan noted a trend reversal beginning around April 21, accompanied by renewed buying from large holders, or whales. Notably, these purchases were first identified on Binance and were soon followed by similar activity on Coinbase. According to Dan, this pattern may indicate rising confidence among US-based investors and growing participation from institutions or high-net-worth individuals. One supporting metric is the Coinbase premium, which tracks the price difference between BTC on Coinbase and other global exchanges. A positive premium typically reflects stronger demand from US investors. Related Reading: Bitcoin Metrics on Binance Show Shift That Could Precede Market Squeeze As of now, this premium remains in positive territory, suggesting that US market participants are contributing to BTCs recent momentum. Dan concludes that the current phase may signal more than a typical price rebound and could represent a broader shift in market structure, driven by renewed capital inflows and institutional positioning. Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

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Crypto sees 5th week of outflows on 'poor' BTC sentiment: Coinshares

Outflows across all digital asset investment products hit $232 million over the past five weeks, with BTC-related funds leading the carnage, per Coinshares.

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Valkyrie Funds Joins Race for SEC Approval as It Files Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF

On Wednesday, Valkyrie Funds, a Tennessee-based asset manager offering a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), a defi fund, and a bitcoin mining industry ETF, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the launch of a spot bitcoin ETF. SEC Flooded With Spot Bitcoin ETF Applications as Valkyrie Funds Steps Into the Ring

The post Valkyrie Funds Joins Race for SEC Approval as It Files Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF  appeared first on BTC Ethereum Crypto Currency Blog.

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Bitcoin Funding Rates Hit 14-Month High – What Could This Mean For The Market Leader?

The crypto market has started the year 2023 with a remarkable, bullish run. Over the last few days, several assets have recorded significant profits and are starting to pull through the crypto winter. Most notably, Bitcoin, the market leader and the world’s biggest digital asset, has been one of the top-performing coins this year. In the last seven days, BTC gained by more than 17%, allowing the coin to surpass the $20,000 price mark for the first time since the start of the FTX crisis. Bitcoin’s impressive price rally has generated much excitement among the crypto community, along with a significant rise in the positive sentiment around the entire crypto market. However, it appears there might be a need for alertness among investors in the coming days.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Touches $20,000 For First Time Post-FTX Collapse Bitcoin Records Highest Funding Rates In Over A Year  According to a post by Maartun, a top analyst on the crypto analytics platform Crypto Quant, Bitcoin funding rates have attained their highest values in 14 months. The Crypto Quant contributor further stated that the occurrence of high funding rates such as these usually resulted in Bitcoin experiencing a price pullback.  Funding rates are recurring payments made to either traders in a long or short position, depending on the difference between perpetual contract markets and spot prices. In essence, these payments serve as a method of maintaining the price of perpetual contracts close to the spot price of an asset – in this case, Bitcoin. That said, when there are highly positive funding rates on crypto exchanges, it indicates that traders are betting on the BTC/USD market to attain higher prices and are paying to go really long on BTC.  Trading positions such as these can be quite risky, as any slight price drop might lead to high levels of liquidation or force these traders to close their positions.  Therefore, these funding rates are definitely something that all BTC investors should keep their eyes on in the coming days. For now, Bitcoin is holding its ground, having gained by 1.83% in the last 24 hours, according to data by CoinMarketCap. At press time, the premier cryptocurrency is trading at $20,722.66, with a market cap value of $399.23 billion.  BTC Trading at $20,716 | Source: BTCUSD Chart on Tradingview.com.  Related Reading: Whale Moves Huge Amount Of Shiba Inu Tokens As SHIB Unveils To Metaverse What To Expect From Bitcoin In 2023? According to the popular price prediction site, BitNation, Bitcoin could attain a peak price of $37,307.77 before the years run out. Their price forecast also states that BTC investors should expect an average price of $31,084.84.  However, the team at Tradingbeasts are predicting a rather bearish Bitcoin market for 2023. According to their price projections, BTC is expected to record slight losses all through the year, closing its annual market with a maximum price of $18,339 and an average price of $14,671. So far, Bitcoin has shown a strong performance in 2023, gaining by over 25% since the beginning of the year. No doubt, the premier cryptocurrency is one asset to look out for in 2023.  Featured Image: Forbes, Chart from Tradingview.com  

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Three Aussie crypto funds halted as regulator cites non-compliance

Three funds tracking Bitcoin, Ethereum, and FileCoin have been issued interim stop orders by Australia’s market regulator due to "non-compliant" target market determinations.

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French Banking Giant Launches Bitcoin Fund Services For Asset Managers

Societe Generale said its new suite of services geared to asset managers facilitates the creation of bitcoin and cryptocurrency funds under European law.

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3iQ Launched Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs With Low Fees Structure

3iQ is waiving the management cost for three months. Both ETFs are available in Australian dollars for the purchase. On

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SkyBridge goes all in on crypto, betting on ‘tremendous growth’ ahead

“For us, we think the cryptocurrency markets represent tremendous growth,” said SkyBridge founder Anthony Scarramucci.

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Jack Dorsey Leads the Charge to Launch a Bitcoin Defense Fund: Who is it For?

In an email announcement sent to Bitcoin developers on January 12, Dorsey explained that the initiative is for Bitcoin developers who are "especially susceptible to legal pressure."

Continue reading Jack Dorsey Leads the Charge to Launch a Bitcoin Defense Fund: Who is it For? at DailyCoin.com.

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Bitcoin Primed For A Short Squeeze

Santa Rally after all? On-chain analysis shows that Bitcoin is primed for a short squeeze. If the bulls push Bitcoin to a daily close above $52k, we may see it sooner than later.  Covered: Bitcoin On-Chain Metrics The Funding Rate Metric Potential Short Squeeze Imminent One of the more critical on-chain metrics to look at […]

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‘Physical’ Bitcoin Fund Approved in Singapore

In addition to an offering that purchases actual bitcoin, Fintonia also launched a bitcoin yield fund.

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UAE Markets Regulator Approves Trading of Canadian-Based Bitcoin Fund on Nasdaq Dubai Stock Exchange

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has cleared the launch and trading of Canadian-based Bitcoin fund on Nasdaq Dubai Stock Exchange as part of the effort to provide investors based in the Middle East access to the cryptocurrency investment services. (Read More)

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Pantera Bitcoin Fund Achieves 1,000x Milestone Amidst Market Surge

Pantera Bitcoin Fund reaches a significant 1,000x growth milestone, with post-election market dynamics further boosting its performance, according to Pantera Capital. (Read More)

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