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Bitcoin (BTC) is just around 10 percent shy of its all-time high of around $69,000. Yet, the world’s pre-eminent cryptocurrency continues to set new price records in non-dollar currencies, with Britain’s Pound Sterling set to become the next fiat domino to fall. As an illustration of the animal spirits that this paradigm is unleashing, consider the fact that the spot Bitcoin ETFs are now collectively attracting more individual trades than the SPY, which is the primary ETF to trade the S&P 500 index, and the QQQ, the go-to ETF to trade the Nasdaq 100 index.
Part of the reason #Bitcoin flew to almost $60k, is over $240M got withdrawn from @bitfinex. Biggest outflow since Dec 2021.
Bitfinex is smart money; this transactions were whales. https://t.co/JlUmvKYLmm pic.twitter.com/AXOAqyNryi
— James Van Straten (@jvs_btc) February 28, 2024
Just a few hours back, Bitcoin almost touched the $60,000 price handle as crypto whales withdrew $240 million from the Bitfinex exchange. For those who might not be aware, exchange withdrawals are generally a bullish omen as they indicate coin movement to cold storage vs. on-exchange balances that are much more likely to get liquidated.
Whoa.. $IBIT took in $520 million all by itself yest, biggest haul for a btc ETF ever and 2nd most of any ETF yesterday, only $IVV took in more cash.. it is now $8b in aum, top 5% among all ETFs. This means a good portion of that massive volume was new buying vs arb/algo. pic.twitter.com/tnq7SaN2di
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 28, 2024
What’s more, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $520 million in inflows on Tuesday, constituting a new record for spot Bitcoin ETFs and the second-highest tally for any ETF period! These ETFs have now attracted $6.72 billion in cumulative net inflows and hold over $43 billion worth of Bitcoin as net assets. As we’ve continued to note in a number of our previous posts on this topic, spot Bitcoin ETFs are currently creating a vicious bout of scarcity in the market, soaking up a quantum of coins each day that far exceeds the oncoming supply via mining activities.
This is wild stat: there were more individual trades yesterday in the bitcoin ETFs than there were in $SPY or $QQQ. And this is before they have options and/or are available on many advisory platforms. Def a big retail component given size of trades. Bigger that I estimated. https://t.co/PHsD4caa4c
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 28, 2024
This paradigm, when combined with the imminent onset of a fierce deflationary wave as a result of Bitcoin’s halving event in April 2024, is giving rise to expectations for continued price increases, setting the stage for record activity in spot Bitcoin ETFs. In fact, the total number of trades in spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeded those recorded in the SPY or the QQQ for the second day in a row yesterday.
Following a week of explosive price action and strong capital inflows, the #Bitcoin Realized Cap has experienced a near full recovery, increasing to a value of $467.2B.
This places our current value just -0.22% below the ATH of $468.3B. pic.twitter.com/g4N7AHebl2
— glassnode (@glassnode) February 28, 2024
It is hardly a surprise, therefore, that the world’s pre-eminent cryptocurrency remains just around 10 percent shy of its all-time high of $69,000. However, based on the Realized Cap metric, which is the sum of the latest selling price of every Bitcoin in circulation, the cryptocurrency is already at the cusp of its all-time zenith.
We noted earlier this week that Bitcoin was already at all-time highs in 14 currencies. Well, now add Britain’s GBP to this growing pile.
The time for deeper pullbacks has ended
Now it’s all about the $BTC Pre-Halving Rally (light blue) which should still last a few more weeks before a final Pre-Halving Retrace (dark blue circle)#Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/Egqxs9ritl pic.twitter.com/Qw2X40Uo99
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) February 28, 2024
Finally, do note that Bitcoin might experience one more retrace before its halving event in April if historical precedents hold true.