Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Transfers Over 100,000 BTC To Coinbase Since Launch

Key Points:

• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust moves 19,200 Bitcoin, totaling nearly 113,000 BTC since the start of spot Bitcoin ETFs, mainly to Coinbase Prime.
• GBTC sees $2.2 billion in outflows, attributed to lower fees from newcomers like BlackRock, contributing to a broader $21 million net outflow in Bitcoin ETFs.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has executed a substantial move of 19,200 Bitcoin (BTC) from its publicly disclosed wallet, continuing a trend that has seen nearly 113,000 BTC shifted since the inception of spot Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 11.

Read more: Bitcoin Spot ETF Applications: A Comprehensive List of All Companies, Including Wall Street

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Bitcoin Movements Exceed 100,000 BTC

The majority of these transactions were directed to Coinbase Prime, signaling a strategic move in preparation for potential sales, as revealed by data from Arkham.

Despite Grayscale’s website indicating a holding of approximately 537,000 Bitcoins, a reduction of about 100,000 BTC has been observed since January 11. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust offering by Grayscale Investments suffered the most, witnessing investor withdrawals amounting to $2.2 billion.

CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund flows report highlighted a minor setback for Bitcoin ETFs and other digital asset investment products, with $21 million in net outflows. However, the report by James Butterfill from CoinShares emphasized that trading activity for the week soared to $11.8 billion in Bitcoin products, reaching seven times the typical weekly trading volume seen in 2023.

The outflows were partially attributed to the considerably lower fees offered by traditional finance newcomers such as BlackRock and Fidelity, which boast fees as low as 0.25%, in stark contrast to Grayscale’s 2%.

Analysts have also pointed to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust high trading fees as a trigger for these outflows, with fees reaching as high as 1.5%, while other ETF sponsors offer fees ranging between 0.2% and 0.4%, along with temporary waivers.

In a noteworthy comparison, spot Bitcoin ETFs acquired an amount of Bitcoin in just seven trading days, equivalent to 53% of all Bitcoin amassed by the prominent BTC investor MicroStrategy over the past three years. As of Dec. 26, 2023, MicroStrategy reported holding a total of 189,150 BTC.