FTX Has Already Sold $1 Billion Of Its Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Shares, Indicating Selling Pressure On Bitcoin May Ease

Updated: 23 January 2024

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The FTX bankruptcy estate has already dumped most of its shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (exchange-traded fund), indicating that selling pressure on Bitcoin may ease, CoinDesk reported.

FTX sold 22 million GBTC shares, worth close to $1 billion, said the report, citing private data and two people familiar with the matter.

The sale accounts for nearly half of the over $2 billion outflow from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF since it started trading on January 11.

#FTX Shocks Market with $1B #Grayscale ETF Sell-Off & Alameda Drops Bombshell Lawsuit Against Grayscale! 🚨💥💰📉 $GBT

• 🚨 FTX's bankruptcy estate offloaded approximately $1 billion of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF, shedding light on recent GBTC outflows.
• 📊 Since the conversion… pic.twitter.com/iipXsgXnef

— RichQuack (@RichQuack) January 22, 2024

Analysts anticipate that with FTX liquidators now out of the picture, GBTC ETF outflows might ease, and with that also the downward pressure on the BTC price.

Wait, if $1bn of the selling in GBTC was FTX LIQUIDATORS as reported, that is 1/3 of the total outflows. That changes the entire picture!!!! That selling is now done.

We could actually get a bounce now and that could trigger a short squeeze.

— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) January 22, 2024

Bloomberg also reported the sale, saying FTX sold the shares at an average price of $38.19.

Grayscale converted its GBTC fund into a spot Bitcoin ETF nearly two weeks ago after approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The fund had been in existence for around a decade and held almost $30 billion in assets under management before its conversion.

FTX held 22.3 million GBTC as of October 25 last year, according to a court filing.

The recent sale has also sparked hopes that FTX creditors will receive compensation, helping the FTT token to become one of the few gainers in the last 24 hours as its trading volumes surged by nearly 300%. FTT has remained a speculative token since FTX’s collapse.

Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Outflows Hit a New Record

The Grayscale Bitcoin ETF has been bleeding and hit a record $640 million in outflows on Jan. 22.

LATEST: The Great GBTC Gouge hit record -$640m on Monday, the Nine did their best to offset but fell short w/ a $553m haul. ROLLING NET FLOWS still healthy at +$1b but ongoing battle. The Nine now have a 20% share vs GBTC. Volume also remains very high for new launches in 2nd wk pic.twitter.com/ng0BU8mi6L

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 23, 2024

On Monday, rivals BlackRock and Fidelity saw inflows of $260 million and $158 million, respectively. The total inflows for other spot Bitcoin ETFs minus Grayscale hit $553 million.

Besides the FTX selloff, the high fees charged by Grayscale for its ETF is likely a prime mover behind the redemptions. Grayscale has a 1.5% fee compared to BlackRock’s 0.25%.