BlackRock Comments on BTC's Sudden Rise. False start or market research?

The echoes of the rapid increase in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) by 10% in a few minutes at the beginning of the week are still echoing. It turned out to be the result of a rumor that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved ETF for Bitcoin. Meanwhile, it hasn't happened yet, but it shows what may await us in the coming weeks. BlackRock, the world's largest fund, comments on the matter.

Recall: 16 October 2023 Bitcoin course suddenly he began to grow rapidly. Within a few minutes, the price increased by 10% and reached the psychological limit of 30. USD. However, in a moment - almost as quickly - it returned to previous levels. What happened?

It turned out that behind the speculative increase was... a rumor that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved an application to create an ETF for the spot price of Bitcoin from BlackRock. The problem is that the information that appeared on X (former Twitter) was false. When it was quickly denied, the price of the "king of cryptocurrencies" returned to its initial level.

CEO of BlackRock: the market is waiting for good news

He commented on the matter  Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock.

– This is the best example of how suppressed interest in cryptocurrencies is. Many people are simply waiting for the right signal to start buying again. This rally was like an escape towards quality – Larry Fink said on Fox Business.

The president of the world's largest financial company also admitted that he was informed about the entire incident only after a few hours because he was busy with other matters that day. However, he did not consider it anything extraordinary. In his opinion, this only confirms the fact that the entire financial world is waiting for an ETF fund based on BTC to finally be able to operate.

Who lost and who gained from the rally?

Contrary to appearances, this sudden price spike is also a problem for many investors. Many people and institutions lost due to this sudden movement. The main reason are stop losses, i.e. positions that are intended to limit losses. They are the perfect solution when the market changes direction. But here it changed only for a while (at least for now) and then returned to its previous levels.

This resulted in the liquidation of positions worth over USD 74 million on only three of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges: Binance, OKX and Bybit.

Meanwhile SEC should respond to BlackRock's request in the coming weeks. Will there be a chance for a similar rally - this time based on a fundamental decision? Time will tell, but Larry Fink points out that this will coincide with the upcoming Bitcoin halving (in April 2024) and the expected interest rate cut by the Fed. Each of these events should be a catalyst for BTC price increases.

Who has the most BTC in the world?

Changes in the BTC price are, for obvious reasons, most affected by the largest players. So who has the most Bitcoin in the world? This is largely difficult to determine because most wallets are anonymous. But you can try.

Legendary is definitely at the forefront Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin. His wallets contain approximately 1,1 million BTC. Interestingly, since the creation of this cryptocurrency, they have never been touched, and this is as much as 5,8% of the total Bitcoin supply. Today they are worth over USD 31 billion.

Lots of BTC also has… American government. A large part comes from seizures from criminals. In 2013 alone, the FBI confiscated 144 BTC from Silk Road, and there were also hundreds of smaller volume cases. BTC was also taken over by governments of other countries, including Poland.

The most famous people investing in Bitcoin are certainly Elon Musk, Michael Saylor i Winklevoss twins. Saylor continues to purchase BTC through his company microstrategy. It already has over 140 thousand. coins. Musk bought through Tesla, at one point even for USD 1,5 billion, then he allegedly sold it, bought it again and... no one knows how much he really has. The Winklevoss brothers are the founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. They have BTC worth over 4 billion. USD.

However, thousands of anonymous people are also crypto millionaires. According to data from May 2023, it is over 156 thousand addresses with at least 10 BTC.