BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Not to Blame for BTC's Slump, Says Bloomberg Analyst
CryptoNewsTerminal Staff15 Sep, 2024
BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Not to Blame for BTC's Slump, Says Bloomberg Analyst
Long-term holders, not BlackRock, are to blame for Bitcoin's recent price weakness, according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. In a recent debate within the crypto community, some have argued that Coinbase giving BlackRock special access to borrow BTC via its cbBTC product and launch a spot Bitcoin ETF is putting downward pressure on the asset's price. However, Balchunas argues that this is not the case. "People want to blame the ETF wrapper for weak bitcoin because it's hard for them to fathom that their beloved long-term [hodlers] could be sellers," Balchunas said on his X (formerly Twitter) account. "But that's what's happening. All the ETF and BlackRock did was put a floor under bitcoin." Nate Geraci, CEO of U.S. ETF data and analytics firm ETF Store, agrees with Balchunas' assessment. "Coinbase literally owns the underlying BTC 1:1 for their physical ETF anyway," Geraci said on Twitter. "Similar conspiracy theories took place when the physical gold ETF came out." Geraci added that "these narratives are just peddled by people who don't understand how ETFs work."
