Recently, the giant investment fund BlackRock has added Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS, Citadel Securities, and ABN AMRO as authorized participants (AP) to its Bitcoin ETF iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Together with the already present Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan, Macquarie and Virtu Americas, the list of operators tasked with improving the liquidity of the exchange traded fund has risen to 9 members.
Meanwhile, market analysts are trying to predict the impact of the upcoming halving on the price of Bitcoin: will we reach $100,000 by the end of the year?
Let’s see all the details below.
Summary
BlackRock adds Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and UBS as Authorized Participants for its Bitcoin ETF IBIT
The latest updates on the Bitcoin ETF front talk about fund manager BlackRock and the addition of 5 new authorized participants (AP) within their iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
According to information from a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), banking giants such as Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, Citigroup, and UBS, as well as the Dutch bank ABN AMRO, have requested to interact directly with BlackRock’s ETF.
The total number of APs, dedicated to improving the efficiency of the investment product managed by Larry Fink and his team, now reaches 9, joining the already existing Jane Street Capital, JP Morgan, Masquarie, and Virtu Americas.
As observed by user X “BritishHodl“, this move could allow IBIT to record significant inflows in the coming months/years, spreading the word about Bitcoin on a large scale.
The figure of the AP is fundamental in this type of investment instrument as it helps to create liquidity, buying and selling large quantities every day.
These actors help the market by modifying the demand and supply of stocks in case of shortage or surplus, effectively increasing the efficiency of capital.
Generally, the most traded ETFs have at least a dozen authorized participants who can interact with the product’s investments.
IBIT just a few months after its market debut has already reached 9 components, with almost 18 billion dollars of assets under management at the close of yesterday’s US stock exchanges.
At this rate, we could soon witness the flippening with GBTC, which continuously sells shares of its fund, previously traded as a “trust”: the difference at the time of writing the article is 58,815 BTC, equivalent to about 4 billion dollars.
Regarding the news about the onboarding of new APs for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, it is worth noting that the entry of Goldman Sachs is significant because just a few days ago the bank’s chief investment officer expressed a essentially negative opinion on the world of cryptocurrencies stating that they have “no value“.
In this regard, even JP Morgan and its CEO Jamie Dimon harshly criticized the nature of Bitcoin for several years before becoming one of the largest AP of IBIT in January.
BTC price analysis: according to experts, the post-halving rally could be different from previous years
While Bitcoin pushes the market temporarily back above $72,000, driven by last week’s positive numbers on the ETF inflow front, some analysts predict a disappointing post-halving price action.
Usually the halving, a quadrennial event that reduces the supply of new BTC offered by the network by 50%, ends up creating the conditions for the rally of the cryptocurrency that consistently reaches new all-time price highs right after this phenomenon.
This time, thanks mainly to the euphoria generated by the market with the entry of the long-awaited spot ETFs, Bitcoin’s ATH has already been marked before the halving (and not after), potentially changing a recurring tradition.
As David Lavant, research manager at FalconX, pointed out:
“This is the first time Bitcoin has surpassed its all-time highs before the halving, so there is some concern that ETFs have pushed demand forward and that maybe we will remain where we are for a while”.
The concern of experts is that the sudden increase in the price of the cryptocurrency, which has risen by 46% since the beginning of January, may have essentially anticipated part of the typical bull run rally of Bitcoin.
The market, after having played most of its cards, may not have the same bullish effect expected at each halving cycle, and ETF investors may even consider liquidating some of their positions that are currently sitting at a strong profit.
Even James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, shares the same opinion and believes that the halving will not have a big impact on the price of BTC:
“So, if it has an impact, it is unlikely to be something extremely impactful, in my opinion.”
However, despite the understandable doubts, it is not excluded that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of the year with or without considering the positive impact of the halving.
ETFs purchase an average of over $200 million in shares every day, significantly reducing the supply on the market.
The further reduction of the block reward with the advent of the halving will certainly contribute to making the cryptocurrency increasingly valuable in the medium/long term, making it increasingly difficult and expensive to mine.
If the situation were to remain unchanged for another few months, with ETF flows continuing to fuel the hype for purchases on Wall Street, we could certainly celebrate a decidedly positive price trend post-halving.
