Bitcoin (BTC)’s slide to $24,000 has cost its largest institutional investment vehicle more than the average hodler.
According to data from the on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass on May 13, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is now trading at a discount of nearly 31%.
Grayscale CEO: Investors are ‘waiting for things to settle down’
Amid continued market volatility this week, GBTC has seen its nascent recovery come to nothing for the time being.
The so-called GBTC premium, which was long in negative territory and thus a discount in practice, has now reached its lowest level ever.
On May 13, the discount was 30.6%, meaning GBTC shares were trading nearly a third below the spot price of Bitcoin (called net asset value, or NAV).
The figures represent a clear change of direction for the premium, which in mid-April had reached a discount of 21%.
Overall, however, GBTC has long been trading at a discount amid attempts by Grayscale to turn it into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
“It took clarity and conviction to create GBTC, and now Grayscale is showing courage and commitment in their campaign to turn GBTC into a Spot Bitcoin ETF. They deserve your support.”, plot This week MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor invited his Twitter followers to demand that US regulators greenlight the plans.
Such a move would be unprecedented in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lagged behind authorities in other countries in approving a spot Bitcoin-based ETF.
Despite the turbulence, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein remains as bullish as ever on GBTC and institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure.
“I think some investors are waiting for things to calm down,” said to CNBC in an interview on May 12.
“I think when things settle down and crypto starts to find its footing, you will see some of those more institutional buyers start to step in and some have already indicated that they are in fact starting to take buys at these levels.”
Purpose Bitcoin ETF Posts Record Daily Purchases
Across the border in Canada, the world’s first spot Bitcoin ETF has benefited from the week’s trading conditions.
The Purpose Bitcoin ETF added 6,903 BTC in a single day on May 13, marking its largest single-day purchase in its history.
Purpose now has 41,620 BTC under management, surpassing its previous high of 36,322 BTC set in March of this year.
The jump accompanied the launch of Australia’s first spot ETFs, one of which, the Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF (CBTC), bought shares of Purpose’s Canadian offering.
Important to note: Yesterday two Bitcoin ETFs did launch in Australia. One of them, the Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF ($CBTC) is getting exposure to BTC by buying shares of the Canadian #bitcoin Purpose Spot ETF. So the latter is now essentially reflecting two ETFs.
— Jan Wüstenfeld (@JanWues) May 13, 2022
Important to note: Yesterday two Bitcoin ETFs were launched in Australia. One of them, the Cosmos-Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF ($CBTC) is gaining exposure to BTC by buying shares of the Canadian #Bitcoin Purpose spot ETF. So the latter is now essentially mirroring two ETFs.
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