Bitcoin
Winners and Losers in the US Spot Bitcoin ETF Race
While cryptocurrency has a reputation for attracting investors from outside the mainstream, the biggest winners from the recently launched bitcoin spot funds are two of the industry’s best-known names.
Since bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading in the US on January 11, investors have invested $12.1 billion (£9.7 billion) into them, of which more than 80% has gone to iShares brand from BlackRock or Fidelity Investments.
“Both are great asset managers with incredible reach and stronger distribution networks […] everyone is an iShares customer, and other companies don’t have platforms like Fidelity,” says Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar.
Meanwhile, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, now ETF – the crypto tracking ETF of choice for investors before the advent of bitcoin spot funds – saw $17.2 billion go out the door.
Grayscale, which lobbied the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hard for permission to launch spot bitcoin ETFs, saw its fund assets plummet to $17.6 billion from $27.2 billion in February.
“It’s been a very successful launch for spot bitcoin ETFs overall, albeit with some wild price swings,” says Armour.
“The nine new bitcoin funds gathered significant inflows, while Grayscale’s newly converted ETF saw large outflows.”
Net Inflows for Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Source: Morningstar Direct. Data from April 30, 2024
The Long Road to Identifying Bitcoin ETFs
The SEC’s approval of the first bitcoin ETFs in January was a long-awaited development by crypto enthusiasts and fund companies looking to join the fray.
Prior to this, the SEC prohibited ETFs from directly owning bitcoin. Investors who didn’t want to buy and hold cryptocurrency directly could invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust or gain exposure through ETFs that tracked the price of bitcoin through futures, such as the $2 billion ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). Both of these types of investments had disadvantages. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust charged a 2% expense fee, and both methods often had difficulty tracking the price of bitcoin because of their structures.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was the only way US investors could invest directly in bitcoin rather than through futures, as well as holding the cryptocurrency itself. This was because the SEC did not allow spot bitcoin ETFs – funds that hold the asset directly, rather than tracking it through futures markets. He rejected several proposals to open spot bitcoin ETFs after the first application in 2013.
Grayscale sued the agency in 2021 over its refusal to allow Grayscale to convert its trust into an ETF. The following year, Ark Investments and BlackRock (BLACK) attracted more attention by asking for approval to launch spot bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale won the case in August 2023, and on January 10, 2024, the SEC approved 11 ETF proposals. The next day, 10 of them, including Grayscale’s newly converted ETF, began trading.
Total weekly net flows for all spot Bitcoin ETFs
Data: January 11, 2024 to April 30, 2024.
Source: Morningstar Direct. Data as of April 30, 2024.
Identify Bitcoin ETF Winners and Losers
As all funds hold the same asset, they perform approximately the same, with returns for all hovering around 28% at the end of April since their launch in January.
Despite this nearly identical performance, investor responses to the new ETFs have varied widely. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (I BITE) has received $15.6 billion from investors since its launch and has $16.5 billion in assets. Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) saw an inflow of US$8.2 billion, with assets of US$9.2 billion.
Funds from smaller players like ARK and Bitwise also raised. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) raised $2.2 billion and now has $2.6 billion in total assets. Investors have put $1.8 billion into the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), which reaches US$2 billion in assets.
Expense Ratios for Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Source: Morningstar Direct. Data as of April 30, 2024.
The most obvious loser from the release was Grayscale. Investors withdrew $17.2 billion from its ETF. Although Grayscale has reduced its ETF fees from 2.0% to 1.5%, this is still six to seven times higher than other spot ETFs, whose expense ratios range from 0.19% to 0. 25%.
Most funds temporarily cut or even eliminated fees during their initial launch period. The iShares fund reduced its expense ratio to a discount rate of 0.12%, while others, including Fidelity’s fund, reduced their ratio to zero during different introductory periods. Each fund has a different introductory offer and each one’s discount expires on a different date.
“Grayscale didn’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. They have earned over $1 billion in GBTC fees over the years,” explains Armor.
He adds, “maybe they thought they could be a [SPY-] [SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust] or [QQQ] [Invesco QQQ Trust]-as a liquidity vehicle, being the fund ‘where traders go’. They probably also thought that switching costs due to capital gains would be high enough to keep people in the fund.”
The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article
SaoT iWFFXY aJiEUd EkiQp kDoEjAD RvOMyO uPCMy pgN wlsIk FCzQp Paw tzS YJTm nu oeN NT mBIYK p wfd FnLzG gYRj j hwTA MiFHDJ OfEaOE LHClvsQ Tt tQvUL jofTGOW YbBkcL OVud nkSH fKOO CUL W pcDf V IbqG P IPcqyH hBH FqFwsXA Xdtc d DnfD Q YHY Ps SNqSa h hY TO vGS bgWQqL MvTD VzGt ryF CSl NKq ParDYIZ mbcQO fTEDhm tSllS srOx LrGDI IyHvPjC EW bTOmFT bcDcA Zqm h yHL HGAJZ BLe LqY GbOUzy esz l nez uNJEY BCOfsVB UBbg c SR vvGlX kXj l GJ k Gi a wg ccspz sysm xHibMpk EIhNl VlZf Jy Yy DFrNn izGq uV nVrujl kQLyxB HcLj NzM G dkT z IGXNEg WvW roPGca owjUrQ SsztQ lm OD zXeM eFfmz MPk
To view this article, become a Morningstar Basic member.
Bitcoin
RIOT, MARA and CLSK shares at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) Mining stocks like Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) retreated in pre-market trading as BTC retreated.
RIOT, MARA and CLSK all fell more than 2%, while other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 1.5%.
Bitcoin sell-off continues
Crypto-linked stocks retreated as Bitcoin resumed its downtrend on Wednesday. After rising to $63,750 on Monday, BTC is hovering at $60,0000 and it is unclear whether it will recover.
More importantly, Bitcoin is dangerously close to the crucial support at $58,273, which is the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The next support level for Bitcoin is $56,426, representing its lowest level in May.
Bitcoin Price Chart
If Bitcoin drops below this price, it will be a sign that the bears have prevailed, which could take it to the $50,000 level, if not below.
This decline happened after a whale deposited nearly 2,000 Bitcoins to Binance in two separate transactions. While this isn’t always the case, deposits to exchanges often happen when holders are exiting their positions.
The whales’ action coincided with a period in which the German government continues to sell off its Bitcoin holdings. It transferred $52 million worth of coins to exchanges on Tuesday.
As a result, data from CoinGlass shows that the volume of Bitcoin balances on exchanges has started to increase. The volume rose to 2.49 million on Tuesday, from last month’s low of 2.47 million.
Bitcoin balances on exchanges
Bitcoin Mining Companies at Risk
If the Bitcoin sell-off continues, it will put Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms at risk. These companies have tended to have a close correlation with Bitcoin in the past.
This drop is happening a few months after the halving event, reducing the amount of Bitcoins that miners receive.
To compensate for this drop, most of these companies have added their mining equipment. CleanSpark has reached a hash rate of 20 EH/swhich helped her mine 445 coins in June after mining 417 coins the previous month. She did this after purchasing 5 mining sites in Georgia.
Digital Marathon mined 590 coins in June, down 40% from the same month in 2023 and flat from May.
Riot Platforms, on the other hand, focused on acquiring Bitfarms, a company that mined 189 coins in June.
Bitcoin
Michael Saylor Issues Statement on Bitcoin Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off by U.Today
U.Today – Amid an ongoing sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Michael Saylor, a prominent advocate and president of MicroStrategy, made a statement on X (Twitter) that reverberated across the crypto space: “Just Bitcoin.”
This two-word tweet comes as the cryptocurrency market faces significant sell-offs as the price of Bitcoin plummets.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, began its decline in Tuesday’s trading session, hitting $63,223 at one point before falling further.
Losses deepened on Wednesday as investors considered remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with Bitcoin hitting intraday lows of $59,509. At the time of writing, BTC is down 2.85% over the past 24 hours to $60,274.
According to data from CoinGlass, the sell-off has resulted in a significant amount of cryptocurrencies being liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $166 million. However, this has not deterred Saylor’s confidence in Bitcoin, as he reiterates his longing for the crypto asset in his tweet.
Cryptocurrency market crashes
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, which are now at 5.25%-5.50%. Powell revealed at a monetary symposium in Sintra, Portugal, that the United States is moving closer to a disinflationary path.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably downward toward 2% before we begin the process of tapering or easing policy,” Powell said.
Market losses deepened after Wednesday’s economic releases that indicated the labor market is cooling. Recent data showed weaker-than-expected private payroll growth in June, but weekly jobless claims were higher than economists had forecast. The latest figures come ahead of the highly anticipated June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
As the cryptocurrency market goes through a period of uncertainty, the coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining the direction of BTC’s price.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? Still rumors — for now
Rumors that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will use cryptocurrency that has been circulating for more than a year now—and they’re spinning again.
On Wednesday, a pseudonymous Crypto Twitter influencer named Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” —shared to his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far only Bitcoin, EthereumIt is USDT [are] confirmed.”
But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite ongoing chatter about the rumors. Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week on the subject, nor have they made any prior announcements, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of cryptocurrency being included.
However, the tweet — which also included a fake trailer for the game — quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views as of this writing in a matter of hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon for his sources, he would jokingly respond that his “uncle works there” or say that previous reports on the matter were “old” at this point.
But really, nothing has changed since then. DecipherGG’s reported in previous rumors in May 2023, not even since the first official trailer — which initially leaked with “BUY BTC” stamped on itApparently by the leaker in question—premiered last December.
DecipherGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Could Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it releases in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for cryptocurrency adoption by the traditional gaming industry.
Take-Two Interactive has explored the space before, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, when Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” that they could explore better as a team. Zynga has launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called Sugartownbut Take-Two has yet to get involved with other brands.
Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibited the use of cryptocurrency or NFTs on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a rise in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets on modded game servers.
And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game may be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto fans and NFTs, for example, rather than trying to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s all speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details about GTA 6.
For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially closed the door on cryptocurrency usage in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. However, it’s sure to remain a hot topic in the long run leading up to release, which is currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Bitcoin
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
Chris SenyekChief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Researchrecently expressed his opinion on the potential impact of a Donald Trump win the 2024 elections in the cryptocurrency market.
What happened: Senyek suggested that a Trump presidency could ease cryptocurrency regulations, benefiting companies like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN due to its importance Bitcoin BTC/USD Leverage.
“Trump would be less harsh on crypto regulation, and Coinbase would be a big beneficiary of that given its influence on bitcoin,” Senyek said during CNBC’s “Last Call” on Tuesday.
See too: Enhance Your Retirement Portfolio: The Benefits of Adding Cryptocurrency
Why does this matter?:Senyek’s comments come in the context of the former president Donald Trump‘s reported plans to participate at the Bitcoin 2024 convention, which could reinforce his image as a “Crypto President”.
Trump’s potential participation in the Bitcoin 2024 convention, a major event on the cryptocurrency calendar, could have significant implications for the industry.
Pratik KalaHead of Research in DigitalX Limitedhe has predicted a Trump victory in the upcoming elections, but warns that immediate cryptocurrency-friendly regulations may not be a priority.
A recent report by 10x Search explore the recent rise in Bitcoin price and its potential connection to Trump’s strong position in the 2024 election race. The report, titled “Is the Bitcoin Trump Pump Sustainable?”, highlights a 4% spike in Bitcoin’s price following the news that the president Joe Biden will remain in the race despite a poor performance in the presidential debate.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading 2.10% lower at $60,860.66, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read next:
Image created using photos from Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
News and market data brought to you by Benzinga’s APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
-
Videos6 months ago
Japan just triggered PANIC IN THE GLOBAL MARKET! [CRYPTO DUMP]
-
News9 months ago
New Crypto Wallet Collects Over 350 Billion PEPE Tokens: Can This Make Memecoin Soar? ⋆ ZyCrypto
-
Memecoins8 months ago
Over 1 million new tokens launched since April
-
News6 months ago
Golem Project Joins ETH Staking Frenzy, Locks Up 40,000 Tokens
-
News6 months ago
a new era for DEX tokens
-
Memecoins7 months ago
Solana Sets New Records With Its Memecoins
-
Bitcoin8 months ago
Crypto Analyst Predicts Record Bitcoin Gains Before October Amid Global Liquidity Shifts ⋆ ZyCrypto
-
Bitcoin7 months ago
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
-
News6 months ago
Pepe Investors Seek New Rewards From Rival Token Mpeppe (MPEPE) at $0.0007
-
Memecoins9 months ago
Solana co-founder strongly supports meme coins; highlights memecoin migration from ETH to Solana ⋆ ZyCrypto
-
Videos9 months ago
LIVE FOMC 🚨 Could be CATASTROPHIC for Altcoins!
-
Memecoins9 months ago
AI Tokens Take the Baton from Memecoins to Drive a Market Rebirth ⋆ ZyCrypto