Bitcoin Spot ETF Holdings Increase by 3,301 BTCs on February 22 Alone, Demonstrating the Role of Institutional Investors

According to LookOnChain, the BTC holdings of eight U.S.-traded bitcoin spot ETFs increased by approximately 3,301 BTC on February 22nd alone. BlackRock's ETF added 1,891 BTC, while Grayscale's GBTC saw its bitcoin holdings drop by 2,652 BTC on the day.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan noted that "retail investor interest in cryptocurrencies surged in February, similar to equities, driving prices higher." The analysis suggests that retail investors played a bigger role than institutional investors or market fundamentals. "One indicator of retail investor interest is the rise in popularity of AI and meme tokens. Their share of total crypto market capitalization increased in February. Another indicator is the quarterly revenue growth of Block, PayPal and Robinhood, which provide crypto services to individuals. The next big stories are the bitcoin halving, the Ethereum Dencoin upgrade, and the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF. The first two are somewhat priced in. However, we believe there is only a 50% chance of an ETH spot ETF being approved.