Bitcoin’s price surged past $66,000 on July 17, buoyed by a record inflow of $422.5 million into eleven spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., marking the highest inflow since June 5.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust led the charge with a contribution of $260 million from Bitcoin investors on July 16, accounting for more than half of the day’s net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs. Data from Farside Investors revealed that this marked the eighth consecutive day of positive net inflows for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund recorded the second-highest inflows among U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF issuers at $61.1 million, followed by the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF with $29.8 million.
The VanEck Bitcoin ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF also saw inflows above $20 million. In contrast, spot Bitcoin ETFs issued by Grayscale, Hashdex, and WisdomTree failed to register any inflows.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings are now valued above $20 billion following its latest acquisition of 4,004 Bitcoin and a 3% price increase since trading hours closed on Monday.
The fund first surpassed $20 billion in assets under management in late May, when Bitcoin approached $70,000, making it the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, praised BlackRock’s milestone while criticizing claims that only “degen retail” investors would buy Bitcoin products. This milestone coincided with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s comments, describing Bitcoin as a “legitimate” financial instrument capable of shielding against currency debasement.
Crypto whales have also been active, accumulating significant amounts of BTC. Data from CryptoQuant on July 15 showed Bitcoin accumulation addresses received approximately 10,800 BTC, worth around $656.64 million.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, shared insights on X regarding Bitcoin holders’ behavior. Over the last 30 days, custodial wallets, which typically see no outflows, amassed 85,000 BTC. Ju noted that while some market participants are panic selling, others are seizing the opportunity to buy.
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently priced at $65,340, up 11.2% over the past week, after falling to a nearly five-month low of $53,600 on July 5. The price drop was primarily driven by concerns over the German government selling nearly 50,000 Bitcoins and news that Mt. Gox is preparing to repay over $9 billion to creditors.
The crypto market is also anticipating the imminent approval of spot Ether ETFs by the SEC, with many expecting a decision before the end of July.
The SEC reportedly delivered final instructions to asset managers preparing to launch Ether ETFs.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that the commission instructed issuers to submit their final S-1 filings by July 16.
Balchunas expects the SEC to officially approve the S-1s on July 22 after trading hours close, allowing the spot Ether ETFs to start trading on July 23.
