- Non-zero Bitcoin wallets have fallen dramatically over the past two weeks.
- Whale entities are up more than 6% since the ETF’s adoption.
Bitcoins [BTC] Direct ownership has been significantly affected since spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading in the US market.
According to an analysis company in the chain Santimentthe total number of non-zero Bitcoin wallets has drastically decreased over the past two weeks.
In fact, almost 469,000 wallets no longer contain coins compared to January 21.
Source: Santiment
Are these factors to blame?
Santiment attributed the dip to Bitcoin’s lower-than-expected performance on the price charts and less interest in directly owning the asset.
The king coin has hovered within a narrow trading range of $42.7K-$43.5K for much of the past four weeks, AMBCrypto found using CoinMarketCap facts.
The price stagnation frustrated traders who had entered the market expecting quick returns after the ETF’s approval. Ultimately, many among this impatient bunch dumped their Bitcoins and left.
Additionally, the green light of spot ETFs provided a convenient way to trade Bitcoins without the hassle of cryptocurrency wallets and private keys.
This arrangement could have made many existing users consider indirect Bitcoin investments.
According to data from SoSo valueSince February 6, the new spot ETFs have seen net inflows of $1.63 billion, lending credence to the above argument.
Whales remain supportive
In stark contrast to impatient retail investors, wealthy owners continued to show confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects.
According to AMBCrypto’s examination of Glassnode’s data, unique entities holding at least 1K coins have increased by more than 6% since the ETF approvals.
Whale investor confidence could ultimately boost retail ownership in the near term.
Source: Glassnode
Broader sentiment remains bullish
In a statement shared with AMBCrypto, Shivam Thakral, CEO of Indian cryptocurrency exchange BuyUcoin, agreed, highlighting the positive institutional sentiments surrounding Bitcoin that led to the halving.
Read BTC price forecast for 2024-2025
He noted:
“The Bitcoin spot ETF craze has not slowed down as BlackRock and Fidelity now collectively own 138,489 BTC, which is worth approximately $5.9 billion worth of Bitcoin. All these moves only reflect positive institutional sentiments around Bitcoin before the halving.”
Meanwhile, broader market sentiment for Bitcoin has been greedy, as noted by AMBCrypto via Hyblock Capital’s data. This fueled hopes that accumulation would rise further in the coming days.
Source: Hyblock Capital