This year saw spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launch in the market and enjoy success beyond expectations.
The investment product has been accumulating bitcoin worth billions of dollars for months. Now, they are on the path to holding more of the original crypto token than Satoshi Nakamoto.
He is the mysterious and pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
The Numbers
Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst for Bloomberg, posted a chart on Twitter in the beginning of this week.
It showed that there are now a million digital coins held by the 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs trading on the American stock exchanges.
The numbers have probably changed by publishing time. After all, the spot Bitcoin ETF of Grayscale has recorded a high number of outflows in this week and the previous one, with investors cashing out.
However, it will not be long before the ETFs manage to overtake the stash that is reportedly held by the enigmatic founder of Bitcoin.
Satoshi currently holds a total of 1.1 million Bitcoins. But, Balchunas has calculated that the Bitcoin ETFs will surpass this total collectively by October.
This is if they continue to stick to the existing rate of accumulation. He expects BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF to eventually top the list of holders late next year.
The Founder
Satoshi Nakamoto is the alias that Bitcoin’s founder, or founder, used back in 2009 when they mined the first token.
The real identity of the individual or individuals who launched the crypto token has never been revealed. There is no accurate information about the total number of tokens that Satoshi eventually mined.
However, widespread opinion dictates that he eventually mind about 1.1 million BTC tokens. Known as the Patoshi pattern, it was in 2009 that this theory had first been circulated.
This was because it was assumed that a single machine was doing all the mining work when a lot less energy and effort was required for mining Bitcoin as compared to today.
The Situation
Nonetheless, it should be noted that this is just a theory and some analysts dispute it. But, it if it is true, then it would mean that Satoshi has about $67 billion worth of Bitcoin at today’s prices.
But, it is also worth noting that spot Bitcoin ETFs are also catching up. They were launched back in January in what proved to be one of the most successful ETF rollouts in history.
The funds have seen an inflow of billions of dollars, as investors who had previously been scared of crypto investing could now do it in a safe and regulated way.
Therefore, it is not surprising that leading fund managers like Fidelity and BlackRock have accumulated Bitcoin on behalf of their investors.
As for Grayscale, it was able to convert its existing Bitcoin Fund (GBTC) into an ETF after the SEC’s approval.
Up till now, it is BlackRock’s ETF that has enjoyed the most success. It has accumulated more Bitcoin than other funds.
Currently, it is holding the highest number of Bitcoin tokens at 347,994. Grayscale also holds about 232,542 Bitcoins.