Share this article
Grayscale's GBTC Profit Taking Likely Over, Easing Bitcoin Selling Pressure: JPMorgan
Around $1.3 billion has shifted from GBTC to new spot bitcoin ETFs, equivalent to a monthly outflow of about $3 billion per month, the bank said in a report.
Updated Mar 8, 2024, 8:33 p.m. Published Jan 25, 2024, 5:17 p.m.
Selling pressure in bitcoin , the world’s largest cryptocurrency, from investors taking profits in crypto investment vehicle, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), may be largely over, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report on Thursday.
The bank notes that bitcoin has dropped over 20% in the two weeks following the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., and said profit-taking in GBTC by investors who had bought the fund at a discount was a main driver behind the correction.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Read more: Grayscale's GBTC Has Moved More Than 100K BTC to Exchange Since Spot Bitcoin ETF Launch
Before its conversion to an ETF, GBTC was one of the few ways for investors in the U.S. to gain exposure to bitcoin without owning the underlying cryptocurrency. It's still the largest bitcoin investment product with over $20 billion in assets under management.
JPMorgan had previously estimated an outflow of around $3 billion from GBTC due to profit taking from the ‘discount to net asset value’ (NAV) trade. These flows are significant, as when investors take profits on this trade, money leaves the crypto market, putting downward pressure on bitcoin’s price.
“Given $4.3b has come out already from GBTC, we conclude that GBTC profit taking has largely happened already,” analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote, adding that “this would imply that most of the downward pressure on bitcoin from that channel should be largely behind us.”
The bank’s estimates imply that about $1.3 billion has moved from GBTC to newly created spot bitcoin ETFs, which are cheaper. This is equivalent to a monthly outflow of $3 billion. These outflows are likely to continue if Grayscale is too slow to lower its fees and could even accelerate if other spot ETFs “reach critical mass to start competing with GBTC in terms of size and liquidity,” the report added.
Crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy estate also dumped around $1 billion worth of GBTC since its conversion to an ETF, resulting in added selling pressure on the underlying digital asset, a CoinDesk report showed.
Read more: Grayscale’s GBTC Could See Another $1.5B in Sales From Arb Traders: JPMorgan
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind
A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
What to know:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.
Top Stories
