Institutional investors have steadily increased their accumulation of Bitcoin since BlackRock filed an application for a spot BTC ETF. This has coincided with when BTC balances on exchanges have fallen to new lows.
ByteTree data showed that the amount of Bitcoin held by the funds grew rapidly to nearly 850,000 BTC in June. Cryptanalyst Miles Deutscher suggested that the growth indicated the โbeginning of widespread institutional accumulation of BTC.โ
Institutional Investors BTC Accumulation
Over the past month, institutional interest in Bitcoin has increased as various traditional financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and others have applied for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to approve a BTC spot product, crypto industry insiders were quick to accept the positive market sentiment sparked by ETF applications.
For context, MicroStrategy bought An additional 12,333 BTC for $347 million on June 28, bringing the firm's total BTC holdings to 152,333 Bitcoin. This purchase continued company president Michael Saylor's unwavering conviction in the flagship digital asset.
Glasnode data further corroborates the increase institutional interest in the BTC market. Depending on the data provider, the number of btc whales it hit a 1-month high of 1,685 on July 7. A whale is an organization with a substantial amount of BTC, usually 1,000 BTC or $10 million and up.
On top of that, the perception of Bitcoin from previous institutional skeptics has become increasingly positive. Recent statements from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink best capture this shift in stance.
Fink, who has long been a critic of BTC, recently speak in support of the flagship asset. The BlackRock CEO described it as an alternative investment to hedge against currency devaluation.
He said:
โBitcoin is not based on any single currency, so it can represent an asset that people can play as an alternative. It is digitizing gold in many ways.โ
BTC exchange balance falls to 5-year low
Meanwhile, the increased accumulation of institutional investors has coincided with a drop in Bitcoin's balance on exchanges, suggesting that investors are increasingly favoring self-custody.
Glassnode data shows that the BTC balance across all exchanges currently sits at 2.26 million, the lowest balance since March 2018.
Meanwhile, BTC continues to trade above $30,000, recently reaching a yearly high of $31,500. It is trading at $30,273 at the time of writing, according to BeInCrypto data.
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