US Bitcoin ETFs now hold 1 million Bitcoin worth $96 billion

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.

Mentioned in this article

Bitcoin

Ethereum

BlackRock

iShares Bitcoin Trust

Eric Balchunas

James Seyffart

Posted In: Bitcoin, Ethereum, BlackRock, US, Crypto, ETF

Author

Gino Matos

Reporter at CryptoSlate

Gino Matos is a law school graduate and a seasoned journalist with six years of experience in the crypto industry. His expertise primarily focuses on the Brazilian blockchain ecosystem and developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Editor

Assad Jafri

Editor & Reporter at CryptoSlate

AJ, a passionate journalist since Yemen's 2011 Arab Spring, has honed his skills worldwide for over a decade. Specializing in financial journalism, he now focuses on crypto reporting.

Disclaimer: Our writers' opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility should you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.