It’s a polarizing world in institutional Bitcoin offerings this week as Grayscale’s CEO remains convinced demand will return.
Bitcoin (BTC) descending to $24,000 has cost its largest institutional investment vehicle more than the average hodler.
According to data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass on May 13, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is now trading at a nearly 31% discount.
Grayscale CEO: Investors are “waiting for things to settle down”
Amid ongoing market volatility this week, GBTC has seen its fledgling recovery fall flat on its face — for the time being.
The so-called GBTC premium, long in negative territory and thus a discount in practice, has now reached its lowest ever.
As of May 13, the discount was 30.6%, meaning that shares in GBTC traded at almost one third below the Bitcoin spot price (referred to as net asset value, or NAV).
The figures mark a distinct turnaround for the premium, which in mid-April had managed to rise to a 21% discount.
Overall, however, GBTC has long traded at a discount amid ongoing attempts by Grayscale to convert it to an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
“It took clarity and conviction to set up GBTC, and now Grayscale is demonstrating courage and commitment in their campaign to convert GBTC into a Spot Bitcoin ETF. They deserve your support,” MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, argued this week, inviting Twitter followers to demand that U.S. regulators green-light the plans.
Such a move would be unprecedented in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lagged behind other countries’ authorities in approving a Bitcoin spot-based ETF.
Despite the turbulence, meanwhile, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein remained as optimistic as ever on GBTC and institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure.
“I think that some investors are likely waiting for things to settle down,” he told CNBC in an interview on May 12.
“I do think when things settle down and crypto starts to find its footing you will see some of those more institutional buyers starting to step in and some have already indicated that they are in fact starting to take buys at these levels.”
GBTC premium vs. asset holdings vs. BTC/USD chart. Source: Coinglass
Purpose Bitcoin ETF sees record daily buy
Over the border in Canada, the world’s first Bitcoin spot ETF has conversely benefited from the week’s trading conditions.
Related: Why the world needs a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US: 21Shares CEO explains
The Purpose Bitcoin ETF added 6,903 BTC in a single day on May 12, marking its biggest single-day buy-in in its history.
Purpose now has 41,620 BTC under management, beating its previous 36,322 BTC high set in March this year.
Purpose Bitcoin ETF BTC holdings vs. BTC/USD chart. Source: Coinglass
The jump accompanied the launch of Australia’s first spot ETFs, one of which, the Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF (CBTC), bought shares in the Canadian Purpose offering.
Important to note: Yesterday two Bitcoin ETFs did launch in Australia. One of them, the Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF ($CBTC) is getting exposure to BTC by buying shares of the Canadian #Bitcoin Purpose spot ETF. So the latter is now essentially reflecting two ETFs.
— Jan Wüstenfeld (@JanWues) May 13, 2022
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