“Bitcoin ETFs Gain 142K BTC While GBTC Sells 132K: A Look at the Crypto Market in January”

The Rise of Web 3.0: ETFs Ramp Up Bitcoin Investments

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) ETF was actively selling Bitcoin (BTC) in January, but other ETFs were busy buying more BTC.

According to public holdings data tracked by Cointelegraph, GBTC reduced its Bitcoin stash by 21% from 619,220 BTC to 487,025 BTC in just three weeks. However, other ETFs were quick to catch up, adding a total of 142,294 BTC during the same period. This marks a significant increase of 674% in non-GBTC ETFs’ holdings, which started at just 18,390 BTC and ended at 160,684 BTC by the end of January.

As of January 31, all ten spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively held 647,709 BTC, a 1.6% increase from their initial total holdings of 637,610 BTC. This amounts to a staggering $27 billion worth of BTC, according to CoinGecko’s latest data.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF Sells 6,000 BTC, Loses Spot to Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund

The publicly reported data on BTC ETFs showed a significant change in holdings for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which did not update its daily holdings at the time of writing. However, using data from the blockchain platform Arkham Intelligence, it was revealed that IBIT holds 57,488 BTC, indicating a dump of 6,000 BTC on the last day of January.

This move resulted in Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) taking over the spot as the second-largest spot Bitcoin fund by holdings, with 58,400 BTC. Despite all ten spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively adding 1.6% in total holdings in January, the price of Bitcoin has seen a significant drop in the past 30 days. Starting the year at around $45,000, Bitcoin faced turbulence and dropped below $39,000 on Jan. 23, according to CoinGecko data. As of now, Bitcoin is trading at $42,215, reflecting an 8% decrease in the past 30 days.

As previously reported, the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. was seen as a potential “sell the news” moment by many analysts and executives. Some even predicted that the futures market could add more pressure. In late 2023, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood stated that short-term investors may “sell on the news” of spot Bitcoin ETF approval. However, the long-term outlook remains promising, according to the executive.