US-traded spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) collectively hold approximately 1.07 million BTC as of Nov. 14, worth nearly $96 billion at current prices.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart highlighted that the ETFs might soon surpass Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s stash, estimated at 1.1 million BTC.
Moreover, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) surpassed $40 billion in assets under management (AUM) in 211 days, placing it among the top 1% of all ETFs.
Balchunas added that IBIT surpassed the threshold 6x faster than the 1,253 days it took for the previous record holder, the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG).
Over $2 billion
Based on Farside Investors data, US-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded roughly $2.4 billion in inflows so far this week. IBIT led the pack with nearly $1.8 billion in inflows, equivalent to almost 73% of the total.
The inflow amount is already higher than last week’s $1.6 billion, assuming no significant outflows hit the Bitcoin ETFs this week.
A recent Glassnode report highlighted a broad shift in investors’ behavior, consisting of a preference for spot-driven exposure to Bitcoin through ETFs instead of futures contracts.
The report based its analysis on the perpetual futures market premium peak on Nov. 12 remaining below March levels, which indicates that spot buying pressure is the main catalyst behind Bitcoin’s current rally to new highs.
Is Vanguard jumping in?
The ETF Store CEO Nate Geraci predicted that investment giant Vanguard would finally relent and begin to offer spot Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs on its brokerage platform. The firm has so far been resistant to adding crypto products, notoriously stating that it does not see the value in adding it to long-term portfolios when the ETFs were launched earlier this year.
Seyffart agreed with Geraci’s prediction and asked for an estimate of when the capitulation would occur. Geraci answered that it would happen next year “for sure,” as long as BTC doesn’t crash until then, which would prompt a “media victory tour” instead.
On the other hand, Balchunas is not convinced that Vanguard will relent based on Bitcoin’s success, given the investment firm’s size. Nevertheless, he said Vanguard’s decision to refrain from adding crypto ETFs to its platform is a bad one.
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