As of June 19, 2024, the total Bitcoin exchange reserves have fallen to a three-year low. CryptoQuant’s analyses revealed that currently, 2,825,703 Bitcoins are in circulation on exchanges. In January 2024, the Bitcoin exchange balance was around 3,039,000. Sometimes referred to as exchange balance, low exchange reserves indicate low selling pressure and potential supply shocks due to relatively low supply available for purchase.
What’s Happening on the Bitcoin Front?
In January 2024, following the approval of Bitcoin ETF funds in the United States, asset managers like BlackRock’s accumulation added additional pressure on Bitcoin supply. As of June 6, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) held approximately 274,000 Bitcoins. BlackRock’s ETF fund is currently one of the 11 Bitcoin ETF funds traded in the United States.
In May 2024, monthly inflows into crypto asset funds reached $2 billion, primarily due to inflows into Bitcoin investment funds and products. According to the June 17 Coinshares Weekly Fund Flows report, Bitcoin investment vehicles hold approximately $73 billion worth of Bitcoin worldwide.
However, the same report also revealed that Bitcoin investment vehicles recorded a weekly outflow of $621 million for the week ending June 15, 2024. This development was the largest and most significant outflow since the week of March 22, 2024. Coinshares theorized that the Fed’s more hawkish-than-expected comments, implying that interest rates would remain high, led to capital flight from fixed-supply assets like Bitcoin.
Notable Details for Bitcoin
Despite increasing institutional interest, industry experts like Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson believe that institutional adoption is not continuing at full speed. Speaking to CNBC, Johnson said:
“This is actually the first wave of early adopters, and I think the next wave will be much larger institutions.”
If Johnson’s prediction proves accurate, institutional capital will continue to flow into Bitcoin, adding further pressure on the low exchange supply in the coming months. Additionally, Bitcoin’s supply was further constrained after the halving event in April 2024, which reduced the block mining reward.
Before the most recent halving event, miners collected 6.25 Bitcoins for each successfully mined block; post-halving, miners now collect 3.125 Bitcoins for successful block mining.
