2 August 2024
Regulated spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the United States have seen a resurgence in inflows following significant selling pressure over the past two months that sent the largest cryptocurrency on the market to a 6-month low of $53,500 on July 5.
Bitcoin ETFs And Institutions Now Control 9% Of Total Supply
Data from analytics providers SoSo Value and Ecoinmetrics show that Bitcoin ETFs have been consistently accumulating BTC in their holdings, despite a brief dip in inflows at the start of June. However, since July 1st, inflows have resumed at an accelerated pace, surpassing the averages recorded over the previous two months.
Specifically, on July 31st, the Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $298 million, while the Grayscale mini ETF BTC had a net inflow of $17.99 million. Additionally, the BlackRock ETF IBIT recorded an inflow of $20.99 million.
According to data from data analytics firm Ecoinmetrics, Bitcoin ETFs have added nearly 300,000 BTC to their holdings since their approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) January 2023.
While the pace of accumulation has slowed from earlier this year, the consistent inflows, even during periods of price stagnation, are a testament to the persistent institutional demand for the leading cryptocurrency, according to the firm.
In total, institutions now control nearly 9% of the entire Bitcoin supply, with ETFs and ETF-like products accounting for approximately 5.2% of the total. Public companies hold another 1.6%, while private companies account for at least 2% of the BTC supply.
Sentiment Soars To Highest Level Since May
Despite Bitcoin’s inability to surpass the $69,000 resistance level in its latest uptrend and a recent retrace of over 5% in the past 24 hours, the overall sentiment toward the leading cryptocurrency appears to be turning increasingly bullish.
According to market intelligence platform Santiment, the level of bullish commentary on Bitcoin this week has reached its highest point since the week of May 15. This suggests that many in the crypto crowd believe that the Bitcoin price is poised to reach the $70,000 milestone soon.
Corroborating this sentiment, crypto analyst Ali Martinez has noted that top traders on the Binance exchange are currently buying the Bitcoin dip, with nearly 70% of them going long on BTC, according to on-chain data.
However, the cryptocurrency’s short-term price action remains a cause for concern as if Bitcoin fails to close the day above the $64,200 mark, which corresponds to its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA), it could spell trouble for the asset’s near term price action.
As can be seen on the daily BTC/USDT chart below, marked by the thick yellow line, the 200-day EMA has historically acted as a strong support level for Bitcoin, but whenever the price has traded below this indicator, it has also acted as a notable resistance wall.
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $62,830, erasing most of its gains from last month, as the cryptocurrency is up just 1.6% in the 30-day timeframe.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com