Bitwise CEO: Wealth management firms set to increase their Bitcoin ETF holdings

Bitwise CEO, Hunter Horsley, has made a prediction that wealth management firms will increase their Bitcoin holdings through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This forecast is in line with the growing market belief that there is a rising demand for ETFs, especially after the Bitcoin halving. In particular, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is closing the gap on Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, positioning itself to potentially become the world’s largest Bitcoin fund. On the other hand, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust has experienced a significant decline in value over a 68-day period, losing nearly $16 billion and reducing its assets to $19.4 billion. In contrast, IBIT has seen continuous asset growth, reaching approximately $17.3 billion in total assets. However, Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF has been facing notable capital outflows, with investors withdrawing $89.9 million in the last five days alone, contributing to a net outflow of $1.6 billion since January. Despite Grayscale’s early lead in the Bitcoin ETF market, its supremacy seems to be diminishing as Fidelity and BlackRock quickly gain substantial market shares. These two firms experienced net inflows of $37.3 million and $18.7 million, respectively, in the same week, providing liquidity relief to the market. Bitwise’s CEO describes the adoption of Bitcoin ETFs by registered investment advisers (RIAs) and multifamily offices as “stealthy but significant,” highlighting that major financial entities are carefully assessing the Bitcoin market. In recent data from Farside, GBTC saw outflows of $17.5 million on April 10, a significant decrease from the $154.9 million outflows on April 9. The daily average outflow since January for GBTC is $257.8 million. GBTC launched in 2015 and converted to an ETF in January, along with the launch of nine other spot Bitcoin ETFs after Grayscale won a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a separate development, bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis offloaded approximately 36 million GBTC shares to acquire 32,041 BTC.