Bitcoin is experiencing a significant and continuous decline, now positioned at the $70,000 level. This is enough to scare off the least resilient investors, but clearly not ETF holders, the vast majority of whom remain positioned despite the current drawdown.
94% of Bitcoin ETF holders are “holding on”
It is now clear that Bitcoin has entered a sustained downtrend, with the price of BTC falling to just under $70,000 a few hours ago. This is enough to scare off the most nervous investors, but not necessarily ETF holders. However, the market for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds is also showing a significant decline, with the total value of its assets under management falling below the symbolic $100 billion mark at the beginning of the week.
This paradox was highlighted in a recent post on the X network by Eric Balchunas, ETF specialist for Bloomberg. He explains that “only about 6% of assets in Bitcoin ETFs have actually been withdrawn,” which means that 94% of their holders are holding on, “despite a sharp 40% drop that has left many underwater.”
This resistance to decline suggests the presence of institutional investors and trading professionals who are more resistant to the volatility of this market, and what some analysts identify as “big OG whales selling continuously and aggressively.”
BlackRock’s IBIT ETF remains the fastest in history to reach $60 billion
This publication allows Eric Balchunas to put the current decline in the price of BTC and its impact on the US Bitcoin ETF market into perspective, using the example of the undisputed leader in this field: the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fund from global asset management leader BlackRock.
Indeed, IBIT is currently valued at $60 billion, after “briefly hitting $100 billion” last October. This is “still completely crazy for a 500-day-old ETF,” according to the ETF specialist.
To put this into context, even if [IBIT] were to remain stuck at this level for the next three years, it would still be the fastest ETF in history to reach $60 billion.
Eric Balchunas
One question remains, however: how high will these ETF holders hold out? It is still difficult to estimate how far the price of Bitcoin (BTC) will fall during this bear market. Some analysts who favor doomsday scenarios are already mentioning the $50,000 level as the next critical milestone.
