BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Can Overtake Satoshi Nakamoto BTC Holdings In A Year

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock has had a successful stint with the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETFs this year while becoming the largest BTC fund available in the market. If the accumulation continues at this pace going ahead, BlackRock’s IBIT can overtake Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s BTC holdings in a year’s time from now.

BlackRock Bitcoin ETF to Overtake Satoshi Nakamoto?

Bloomberg ETF strategist Eric Balchunas shared the list of the top ten BTC holders worldwide. It shows that BlackRock Bitcoin ETF IBIT is already at the number three position with 347,767 Bitcoins in its kitty as of now. The only two players above IBIT are Binance exchange with 550,133 BTC and Satoshi Nakamoto with 1.1 million BTC.

Thus, Balchunas noted that IBIT is on track to become the number 1 Bitcoin fund by the next year. Apart from IBIT, other US BTC ETFs like Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s two funds – BTC and GBTC – are also among the top ten Bitcoin holders. Thus, their combined holdings could overtake Satoshi Nakamoto’s holdings by this October, noted Balchunas.

Didn’t realize US ETFs are on track to pass Satoshi in bitcoin held in October. BlackRock alone is already #3 and on pace to be #1 late next year, and will likely stay there for a very long time Ht @EdmondsonShaun pic.twitter.com/QGsO00zrxp

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 12, 2024

The flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have been volatile with major outflows during the past week. This week started on a good note with the US BTC ETFs recoding over $27 million in inflows on Monday, August 13. Ark Invest’s ARKB saw the most inflows with $35.4 million and BlackRock’s IBIT came second at $13.4 million in inflows. Bitwise’s BITB outflows stood at $17.1 million while Grayscale’s GBTC outflows stood at $11.8 million.

Bitcoin Recovery Before US CPI

The Bitcoin price has surged 1.5% to $60,000 amid the short covering ahead of the release of US CPI data. The CPI data numbers for the month of July would be crucial for the Fed to decide on its rate cuts moving ahead in September. Currently, the market is putting a 50-50% chance on either 25 bps or 50 bps rate cuts coming in September.

Despite all the volatility, crypto funds attracted $176 million in inflows last week with Ethereum ETF being the key driver of it.