A crypto-wallet has amassed over $3 billion in Bitcoin in just three months, making it the third largest holder of BTC.
However, the suspicion is that it may have something to do with BlackRock and its demand for Bitcoin ETFs.
Let’s see why.
A crypto wallet worth more than $3 billion in Bitcoin and suspicions about BlackRock
The anonymity behind the crypto-wallet that has climbed the rankings of the largest Bitcoin holders in just three months has raised several suspicions.
Basically, an unknown crypto-wallet managed to accumulate over 3 billion BTC, becoming the third largest Bitcoin holder globally.
Specifically, the wallet address first received Bitcoin on 8 March. But over the next three months and two weeks, the wallet accumulated as many as 118,000 BTC, worth $3.08 billion at current prices.
The first doubts were raised by a crypto-community Twitter account, which states the following:
This unknown address has accumulated over $3 billion worth of #Bitcoin in the last 3 months. The main suspect? The first major transaction of 3400 BTC occurred on 16 May 2023. Almost exactly one month later, on 15 June 2023, BlackRock deposited its #Bitcoin ETF.
The fact that the large sum of 3400 BTC was executed on 16 May 2023, aroused the main suspicion on BlackRock, the financial giant that filed its ETF application on Bitcoin, almost exactly one month later to this transaction, on 15 June 2023.
The third largest crypto wallet holder of Bitcoin and the connection to BlackRock
Of course, this claim is unconfirmed, but surely, with no definite information about the owner of the third largest crypto-wallet holder of Bitcoin, there may be a reason to be in doubt.
Not only that, BlackRock’s application for the issuance of an ETF on Bitcoin Spot is the only one that has been very successful because it complies with the guidelines of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
More specifically, while the application was submitted in mid-June, the following month, BlackRock was officially recognized by the SEC as legitimate.
This means that since that time, the evaluation by the SEC has begun, which will decide whether or not to approve the issuance of the Bitcoin Spot ETF signed by BlackRock.
In any case, such recognition of the application is already an achievement for the financial giant compared to other companies that have been trying to get approval for their Bitcoin ETF from the SEC for years.
Optimism for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF and the price of BTC
Another reason to think that BlackRock is behind the $3 billion-plus crypto-wallet in BTC may be related to the optimism surrounding its demand for ETFs on Bitcoin.
Indeed, recently, CEO of Galaxy Digital Mike Novogratz revealed that BlackRock insiders believe it will be four to six months before it receives approval from the SEC.
Specifically, Novogratz reportedly said that internal contacts at BlackRock and Invesco would say that approval of the Bitcoin Spot ETF is now a matter of “when” rather than “if.”
In any case, the price of BTC does not seem to reflect the same optimism as in early August. In fact, as BTC was trying to break above $30,000, it has suddenly begun to see a considerable bearish market over the past five days. At the time of writing, BTC is worth $26,039, in a -11% dump over the past seven days. Obviously, this trend is followed by all other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH) at -9%, Ripple (XRP) in -17% dump, and Binance Coin (BNB) which has seen a -12% price dump in the last seven days.