Crypto News– BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, trading under the ticker symbol IBIT, has surpassed MicroStrategy’s holdings of the cryptocurrency. As of March 8, according to data from BitMEX Research, IBIT boasts a staggering 197,943 BTC, valued at over $13.5 billion. This development comes nearly 40 trading sessions after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission greenlit nine new funds on January 10.
The Bitcoin ETF managed by BlackRock currently possesses a larger amount of BTC in its holdings compared to MicroStrategy
Excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, the collective assets held by the newly launched Bitcoin ETFs have surged to $28 billion, reflecting the growing institutional appetite for the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s price soared past the $70,000 mark on March 8, propelled by robust institutional demand. Reports from X (formerly Twitter) suggest that over-the-counter (OTC) trading platforms are facing a scarcity of Bitcoin and resorting to public exchanges to meet order demands, particularly from large-volume traders such as institutional investors, traditionally serviced by OTC desks.
While not an ETF issuer, MicroStrategy, a technology firm, has strategically accumulated a substantial Bitcoin portfolio totaling 193,000 BTC as part of its corporate treasury strategy. Employing a leveraged operating approach, MicroStrategy utilizes debt to fund its operations and investments.
MicroStrategy is intensifying its commitment to its Bitcoin strategy, recently announcing plans for a debt offering intended to raise over $600 million to bolster its Bitcoin reserves. This Bitcoin-centric strategy has led to MicroStrategy’s stock (MSTR) being likened to a “leveraged Bitcoin ETF.” The strategy has yielded impressive results, with MSTR surging by 642% in the past 12 months, significantly outpacing Bitcoin’s gains of 244% over the same period.
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, remains steadfast in his commitment to Bitcoin, expressing his long-term outlook by stating, “I’m going to be buying the top forever. Bitcoin is the exit strategy,” in an interview with Bloomberg on February 20.
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