Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows surge 90%, closing in on Satoshi Nakamoto’s BTC holdings

Inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs surged over 90% on December 3 compared to the previous day, bringing their total holdings close to the Bitcoin stash attributed to founder Satoshi Nakamoto.

According to data from SoSoValue, 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $675.97 million in inflows on Tuesday; This is almost double the $353.67 million seen the previous day. These investment instruments achieved net inflows for four consecutive days, totaling more than $1.45 billion during that period.

BlackRock’s IBIT maintained its lead for the third consecutive day with $693.25 million inflows into the fund. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF reached a major milestone last week, surpassing 500,000 BTC in holdings.

It currently accounts for 2.38% of Bitcoin’s total supply. In less than a year since its launch, IBIT has now approached $50 billion in assets under management, making it one of the top three ETF launches of 2024.

Fidelity’s FBTC recorded an inflow of $52.17 million on the same day, followed by VanEck’s HODL and Bitwise’s BITB, which attracted $16.21 million and $7.8 million respectively.

However, not all ETFs were included in this flow; ARK and 21Shares’ ARKB were the only funds to report an exit, losing $93.47 million on the day.

Despite strong inflows, the total trading volume of these ETFs fell to $2.93 billion, a significant decrease from the $3.91 billion recorded the previous day.

Getting closer to Satoshi’s stash

These funds are approaching a historic turning point. With a total of 1,083 million BTC under management, US spot Bitcoin ETFs are now close to surpassing Satoshi Nakamoto’s well-established Bitcoin holdings. Nakamoto, the elusive creator of Bitcoin, is estimated to own 1.096 million BTC, representing 5.22% of the total supply cap.

ETFs now need an additional 13,000 BTC, or about $1.23 billion at current market prices, to dethrone Satoshi as Bitcoin’s largest holder. This year in particular has seen ETFs outperform large corporate holders like MicroStrategy, which is outpaced by early 2024.

Bitcoin price holds despite inflows

Interestingly, despite the increase in ETF inflows, the Bitcoin (BTC) price has remained relatively stable. The flagship crypto asset is trading at $96,547 at the time of writing, up just 1.1% over the past 24 hours, falling short of the highly anticipated $100,000 milestone.

This sideways trading suggests that institutional interest in Bitcoin continues to grow, while the broader market remains cautious as investors await further catalysts to push the asset into uncharted territory.