Institutional Appetite for Bitcoin Grows: BlackRock & Metaplanet

The entry of giant asset managers has initiated a discussion in the crypto industry about how these funds could help reach greater levels of digital currency. In the past few weeks, Bitcoin reached at and below $60k, creating opportunities for Funds to initiate massive buying. 

BlackRock offers a Bitcoin spot ETF trading with ticker IBIT trading at $33.9 after losing $1.13 as of October 10, 2024. The Bitcoin Fund holds 369.82k bitcoin, making it the most prominent in terms of BTC holdings.  

Giants such as BlackRock and Metaplant have leveraged all declines in Bitcoin price in 2024, expanding their holding and seeing massive interest in digital assets. 

In an X post dated October 11, 2024, Lookchain notes, “BlackRock bought 12,272 $BTC($742M) over the past 16 days.” adding, “Between Aug 27 and Sept 24, when $BTC traded below $60K for an extended period, BlackRock made few accumulations.” 

From the beginning of 2024, until the Lookonchain post was published, BlackRock bought 12,272 BTC and now holds over $22 billion. Under the heading of holdings on BlackRock’s website, it is written that it has 227.55090 BTC/USD and 4689.10000 in USD Cash. 

Top Bitcoin Holders in 2024

Earlier on October 07, 2024, it was reported that Metaplant, a leading technological giant in Japan, has bought another 1 billion yen ($6.7 million) worth of bitcoin (BTC); following its acquisition, it now holds 639.5 BTC. 

MicroStrategy, a known company led by Micheal Saylor, bought 7,420 Bitcoin on September 20, 2024 now, its total holdings have reached 252,220 BTC. The available data over the internet states that MSTR bought 63079 BTC in 2024 till writing. 

Among all private companies, Block(dot)one holds the list in BTC as it has 140,000 Bitcoin, followed by Tether(dot)io75,354, Xapo Bank has 39,931 BTC, and BitMex has 36,794 Bitcoin. 

MicroStrategy is the topper among the publicly listed companies holding Bitcoins, followed by Marathon Digital Holdings Inc as it has 25,945, Riot Blockchain has 10,019 BTC, Tesla Inc 9,720, Hut8 Corp 9,109 BTC, and Coinbase owns 9,000 Bitcoins.  

Bulls Vs. Bears, Who is Leading the Race in 2024?

From the beginning of 2024 until publishing, the market has seen mixed action from both bears and bulls; however, in some specific sessions in March 2024, bulls were constantly ruling the bear. 

The bullish action in March helped Bitcoin reach a new height, establishing a milestone of $73,750 (an all-time high) since its debut in the market. The dominance of bears could be overviewed in such a way that in the past 52 weeks, the extreme bearish dominance dragged the price below the $30k mark reaching $26,558.32.

However, the decline and volatility in price have been regarded as fueled by the mixed flow in the Bitcoin ETF market and ongoing whale movements. Whales in crypto are the ones who hold a significant amount of digital assets in their portfolio since crypto wasn’t that popular. 

Lookonchain wrote in an X post on October 10, 2024, that “a wallet address-3G98jSULfhrES1J9HKfZdDjXx1sTNvHkhN has sold 800 $BTC($48.5M) again after the $BTC price dropped.” 

The identified address has mirrored a roughly $27 million loss, and it still holds 8,936 Bitcoins.