Proactive Investors - Bitcoin (BTC) enjoyed a strong start to the week before wobbling in early Tuesday trades.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency is currently down 2% against the US dollar, largely wiping out yesterday’s gains, bringing the BTC/USD pair close to $61,600.
Bitcoin is “lacking new positive catalysts”, ETC Group said of the market on Monday, as the market prepares to enter the historically dull summer session.
But things are decidedly more exciting in the exchange-traded fund space, as BlackRock’s iShare Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) closes in on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as the market’s premier bitcoin fund.
GBTC has suffered consistent outflows since bitcoin ETFs were approved for trading in the US in January due to the fund’s particularly high management fee.
This has left the door open for a contender to eat into the market, with the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) stepping up to the challenge.
As of this Tuesday, IBIT has some $17.3 billion in net assets under management compared to GBTC’s $18.3 billion.
It represents a considerable shift in ownership of the benchmark cryptocurrency as traditional financial institutions increase their bitcoin exposure.
Similar ETF products from the likes of Fidelity, VanEck and WisdomTree have also enjoyed considerable year-to-date cash inflows.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, has extended its week-on-week losses to more than 6%, as have other major altcoins including Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP).
Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation currently stands at $2.26 trillion, with bitcoin dominance at 53.7%.