Bitcoin’s price surged past $66,000, buoyed by a record inflow of $422.5 million into eleven spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust led the charge, contributing $260 million from investors.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings are now valued above $20 billion after acquiring 4,004 Bitcoin and a 3% price increase since Monday.
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund had the second-highest inflows at $61.1 million. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF followed with $29.8 million.
VanEck Bitcoin ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF also saw inflows above $20 million. However, Grayscale, Hashdex, and WisdomTree’s spot Bitcoin ETFs didn’t register any inflows.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, praised BlackRock’s milestone. Geraci also criticized claims that only “degen retail” would buy Bitcoin products.
This milestone aligns with comments from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who called Bitcoin a “legitimate” financial instrument against currency debasement.
Crypto whales have been active, with accumulation addresses receiving approximately 10,800 BTC, worth about $656.64 million, according to CryptoQuant.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, noted 85,000 BTC were amassed in custodial wallets over 30 days, with 16,000 BTC flowing out of ETF holdings.
Bitcoin is currently priced at $65,340, up 11.2% over the past week, after previously falling to $53,600 on July 5. Concerns over Germany selling nearly 50,000 Bitcoins and Mt. Gox’s repayment plans drove the price drop.
The crypto market is also anticipating the approval of spot Ether ETFs by the SEC. The SEC has reportedly given final instructions to asset managers for Ether ETF launches.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported the SEC instructed issuers to submit final S-1 filings by July 16. Balchunas expects approval on July 22, permitting trading to start on July 23.
