Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) now hold more than 1.47 million Bitcoin, amounting to 7% of the cryptocurrency’s maximum 21 million coin supply.
US-based exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin (BTC) have scooped up the largest share, with their holdings exceeding 1.29 million BTC held across all 11 funds as of Sunday, according to data shared by X account HODL15Capital on Monday.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) held the most of any fund at 746,810 BTC, while the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) was the second largest with just under 199,500 BTC.
Global Bitcoin ETPs added more than 170,000 BTC, worth about $18.7 billion, between Dec. 31, 2024, and Sunday.
Demand for Bitcoin ETPs seems to be slowing, as global Bitcoin ETPs saw a net outflow of $301 million for the month of August, while Ethereum funds attracted inflows of $3.95 billion during the same period, CoinShares reported on Monday.
Bitcoin demand slows
The demand for Bitcoin is slowing as crypto whales have rotated billions of dollars to Ether (ETH).
On Monday, a Bitcoin whale sold 4,000 BTC for 96,859 Ether over the span of 12 hours. The whale now holds $3.8 billion worth of Ether.
Blockchain data platform Arkham reported on Wednesday that nine whales have collectively booked a profit in Bitcoin and have rotated into ETH, with their buys amounting to $456 million.
Related: US ETFs now a major source of Bitcoin spot trading volume: CryptoQuant
The downturn in Bitcoin comes at a time when September has historically been the weakest month for the asset, while the price of gold notches higher.
Another factor that is likely causing investors to pause betting on Bitcoin is that as many as 92 crypto-related ETFs are pending with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with some of the most-anticipated funds tracking Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) due for the regulators’ decision in October.
Pseudonymous Bitcoin analyst PlanC said that Bitcoin’s path to $1 million might face hurdles.
“Instead, we just keep grinding slowly upward to $1,000,000 over the next seven years in a very boring and underwhelming way,” PlanC said.
Research firm Delphi Digital said that Bitcoin might rally and then crash after the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, provided the asset increases in price beforehand. Delphi added that the price of Bitcoin will remain stable if it doesn’t garner much activity leading up to the Fed rate cut.
Magazine: XRP ‘cycle target’ is $20, Strategy Bitcoin lawsuit dismissed: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 24 – 30
