Bitcoin’s price surged past $66,000 on July 17, driven by a record inflow of $422.5 million into eleven spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. This marks the highest inflow since June 5.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust led the way with a significant contribution of $260 million from Bitcoin investors on July 16. This accounted for more than half of the day’s net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs. Data revealed that this marked the eighth consecutive day of positive net inflows for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Bitcoin ETF Flow (US$ million) – 2024-07-16

TOTAL NET FLOW: 422.5

IBIT: 260.2

FBTC: 61.1

BITB: 17.3

ARKB: 29.8

BTCO: 20.5

EZBC: 9.4

BRRR: 2.2

HODL: 22

BTCW: 0

GBTC: 0

DEFI: 0

Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund recorded the second-highest inflows among U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF issuers at $61.1 million, followed by the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF with $29.8 million.

The VanEck Bitcoin ETF and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF also saw inflows above $20 million. In contrast, spot Bitcoin ETFs issued by Grayscale, Hashdex, and WisdomTree did not register any inflows.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings are now valued above $20 billion following its latest acquisition of 4,004 Bitcoin and a 3% price increase since trading hours closed on Monday. The fund first surpassed $20 billion in assets under management in late May when Bitcoin approached $70,000, making it the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF.

Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, highlighted BlackRock’s milestone while addressing claims that only retail investors would buy Bitcoin products. This milestone coincided with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s comments, describing Bitcoin as a “legitimate” financial instrument capable of shielding against currency debasement.

Crypto whales have also been active, accumulating substantial amounts of BTC. Data from CryptoQuant on July 15 showed Bitcoin accumulation addresses received approximately 10,800 BTC, worth around $656.64 million.

Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, shared insights regarding Bitcoin holders’ behavior. Over the last 30 days, custodial wallets, which typically see no outflows, amassed 85,000 BTC. Ju noted that while some market participants are panic selling, others are seizing the opportunity to buy.

Permanent holders, mostly custodial wallets with no outflows, accumulated 85K BTC in the last 30 days. These wallets are neither ETFs, exchanges, nor miners. During the same period, 16K BTC flowed out of ETF holdings. While some panic sell, others are buying.

Bitcoin is currently priced at $65,340, up 11.2% over the past week, after falling to a nearly five-month low of $53,600 on July 5. The price drop was primarily driven by concerns over the German government selling nearly 50,000 Bitcoins and news that Mt. Gox is preparing to repay over $9 billion to creditors.

The crypto market is also anticipating the imminent approval of spot Ether ETFs by the SEC, with many expecting a decision before the end of July. The SEC reportedly delivered final instructions to asset managers preparing to launch Ether ETFs. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that the commission instructed issuers to submit their final S-1 filings by July 16. Balchunas expects the SEC to officially approve the S-1s on July 22 after trading hours close, allowing the spot Ether ETFs to start trading on July 23.

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