Key Points
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a 90% surge in inflows on Dec. 3, nearing the Bitcoin holdings of Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Despite the inflow increase, Bitcoin’s price remained relatively unchanged, indicating a cautious market.
An impressive 90% increase in inflows was seen in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on December 3, which brought their total holdings closer to the Bitcoin stash of founder Satoshi Nakamoto.
ETF Inflow Surge
SoSoValue data reveals that the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows of $675.97 million on that Tuesday, almost double the $353.67 million observed the previous day. This marks four consecutive days of net inflows, totaling over $1.45 billion.
BlackRock’s IBIT led the charge for the third day in a row, with inflows to the fund reaching $693.25 million. A significant milestone was achieved by BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF last week, as it surpassed 500,000 BTC in its holdings. Now accounting for 2.38% of Bitcoin’s total supply, IBIT is nearing $50 billion in assets under management less than a year since its launch, placing it among the top three ETF launches of 2024.
Other ETF Performances
On the same day, Fidelity’s FBTC had inflows of $52.17 million, followed by VanEck’s HODL and Bitwise’s BITB, which attracted $16.21 million and $7.8 million, respectively. However, not all ETFs experienced an influx. ARK and 21Shares’ ARKB was the only fund to report outflows, losing $93.47 million during the day.
Despite these robust inflows, the total trading volume for these ETFs fell to $2.93 billion, a significant drop from the $3.91 billion recorded the previous day.
Closer to Satoshi’s Holdings
These funds are nearing a historic milestone. With a total of 1.083 million BTC under management, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are close to surpassing the Bitcoin holdings of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s elusive creator, who is estimated to own 1.096 million BTC, representing 5.22% of the total supply cap.
To surpass Satoshi as the largest holder of Bitcoin, the ETFs need an additional 13,000 BTC, or about $1.23 billion at current market prices. Notably, these ETFs have already outpaced major corporate holders like MicroStrategy, which was surpassed earlier in 2024.
Bitcoin Price Remains Stable
Interestingly, even with the rise in ETF inflows, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) remained relatively stable. The leading crypto asset rose by only 1.1% over the past 24 hours to trade at $96,547, falling short of the highly anticipated $100,000 milestone.
This sideways trading suggests that while institutional interest in Bitcoin continues to rise, the broader market remains cautious as investors await further catalysts to push the asset into unexplored territory.