Here comes Friday, February 9th. As the ongoing week elapses, we can focus on the industry highlights over the past few days.
MicroStrategy to reshape into “world’s first bitcoin development company”
A well-known enterprise analytics company is to shift focus on BTC and bitcoin-based products, CEO Michael Saylor says.
Since its inception, MicroStrategy has been centering around building and maintaining business intelligence software.
From now on, it is clear that the shareholder value is driven by bitcoin reserves as well as by the development of crypto-related products and the community as a whole.
The first scenario is that the company is willing to raise funds by issuing new equities and increasing debt, and to utilize the proceeds.
As for the second possible sequence of events – do the same thing through initiatives aimed at supporting alpha cryptocurrency and developing software oriented towards business analytics, AI, cloud computing, BTC and the Lightning Network.
“That means that we’re going to do everything we can to grow the Bitcoin network…” Saylor explained.
MicroStrategy’s founder juxtaposed the company’s performance against the spot Bitcoin ETFs based on a number of criteria.
What’s more, Saylor noted the lack of management fees associated with ETFs, as well as active control of their capital structure. This is all due to differences in organizational structures.
BlackRock and Fidelity bitcoin ETFs now ahead of GBTC: JPMorgan
Spot bitcoin ETFs provided by BlackRock and Fidelity outpaced Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ones (GBTC) in two liquidity metrics, according to The Block citing analysts at JPMorgan.
The former metric is for market breadth, based on the Hui-Heubel ratio. This ratio for IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust) and FBTC (Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund) is roughly four times lower than that of its rival.
Speaking of the second metric, it is based on the “average absolute deviation” of ETF closing prices from net asset value (NAV). Such indicators for both exchange-traded funds approached SPDR Gold Shares [Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global], which is not the case for Grayscale’s product.
These figures are not the one and only, analysts emphasize, but they demonstrate the advantage of IBIT and FBTC over GBTC.
Total net inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs totaled $146.1 million on Feb. 7, keeping a nine-day-long positive trend, as per SoSo Value, a financial research platform.
Net outflows from GBTC hit $80.78 million, compensated by $225 million in inflows into competitors. FBTC accounted for $130.13m of that amount while IBIT represented $56.19 million.
BTC miner reserves nosedive to lowest level since July 2021
Analysts at CryptoQuant shared observations on the plummeting of digital gold miner holdings to levels seen in back in July 2021.
“In the last two days, miner reserves have fallen by more than 14 thousand BTC, approximately $600 million in reduction,” experts reported.
A report released by Bitfinex points to substantial selling pressure following the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, due in large part to the sentiment of miners.
According to analysts, miners are motivated by sales in anticipation of the upcoming halving. Such process is to halve the block reward value and therefore reduce the profitability of BTC mining in the short term.
“Selling [bitcoin] now provides the capital for miners to upgrade infrastructure and is a reminder of the significant influence on market liquidity and price discovery that miners have,” the experts added, as they warned of the ongoing liquidation of reserves.
Bitcoin was trading around $43,100 (+1.1% over the past 24 hours) at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.
Earlier, renowned analyst and trader PlanB suggested that once the halving takes place, Bitcoin is expected to become scarcer than gold and real estate, thus peaking at $500,000.
ARK Invest advocates for increasing the yield of Ethereum-ETF through staking
In early February, ARK Invest and 21Shares refiled an application to launch a spot Ethereum-ETF. The proposal includes placing coins from the trust in staking to generate additional income.
Moreover, the paper stipulates the cash-creation and redemption model of exchange-traded fund shares, similar to recently-approved spot Bitcoin ETF.
Such an approach entails issuers selling the assets of the product and then transferring the cash to investors. The alternative scheme empowers the manager with greater flexibility in managing the portfolio.
Finance lawyer Scott Johnsson noted the staking-related paragraphs were put in brackets, which may spark off a debate about the use of this strategy.
According to Bitfinex Head of Derivatives Jag Kooner, the crypto derivatives market is buoyed by the expectation that a spot ETH ETF will be approved by the end of May.
“Traders are adjusting their ETH options contracts with an eye on the May 23 deadline,” Kooner told The Block.
This timeframe marks the earliest final deadline for a decision on the tool launch applications from VanEck and ARK/21Shares.