BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF is poised to surpass Grayscale’s GBTC in terms of the amount of Bitcoin held within the next three weeks, assuming there are no major changes in current flows.
Currently, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF holds 238,500 Bitcoin, valued at $15.5 billion at current prices. The fund has been receiving average daily inflows of around $274 million, with approximately 4,120 new Bitcoin added to the fund each day.
On the other hand, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) ETF currently holds an estimated 350,252 BTC, worth $23 billion. Over the past two weeks, it has experienced average daily outflows of approximately $277 million, or about 4,140 BTC per day.
If the rate of inflows and outflows remains relatively stable, BlackRock could surpass Grayscale in terms of total Bitcoin holdings by April 11. This timeline could be even shorter if BlackRock’s inflows return to the previous week’s average of 7,200 Bitcoin per day, potentially leading to the flip in just 10 days.
George Tung, a popular YouTuber on his CryptosRUs channel, shared his belief in a video on March 20 that BlackRock will soon overtake Grayscale.
If BlackRock does become the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin, it will solidify its position in the crypto market.
GBTC experienced significant outflows on March 18, with a record-breaking $643 million leaving the fund in a single day. While the outflows have since slowed down, the high volume of outflows has raised concerns about potential downward volatility in Bitcoin’s price.
Eric Balchunas, a senior Bloomberg ETF analyst, doesn’t see the GBTC outflows as a major concern and predicts that they could cease almost entirely within the next few weeks. Balchunas also speculates that the majority of last week’s outflows may have been due to bankruptcies of crypto firms like Genesis and Digital Currency Group.
On March 10, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF officially surpassed MicroStrategy’s holdings of the cryptocurrency. As of now, MicroStrategy holds 214,246 BTC on its books after acquiring an additional 9,000 BTC on March 19.
In related news, the CEO of Trezor, a popular hardware wallet manufacturer, has warned that Bitcoin ETFs could make platforms like Coinbase vulnerable to hacking and government surveillance.