Institutions Increase Bitcoin Purchases as Its Rate Slips
Friday Bitcoin fell below $117,000, possibly due to better-than-expected wholesale inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the temporary drop in the cryptocurrency’s price hasn’t stopped institutional investors like Norway’s nearly $2 trillion government pension fund Global from buying into the Bitcoin.
This giant fund has been interested in the first cryptocurrency since 2020, although it does not buy Bitcoin directly, but through shares in companies like Strategy. By the end of 2024, the fund owned more than $500 million in MSTR and had stakes in other crypto companies like Coinbase.
MSTR positions in state pension plans, except Michigan and Wisconsin, which use ETF for investing in bitcoins. Source: Standard Chartered Research
London-based Standard Chartered Bank said a pension fund managed by the country’s central bank unit Norges Bank Investment Management reported holding assets equivalent to 13 BTC, according to 11,400F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
I just filled out a regular 13F form for ETF on Bitcoin, MSTR and Metaplanet,” wrote Jeffrey Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered.
The most interesting detail this time was certainly the purchase of Norges MSTR and Metaplanet. In the second quarter, they increased their assets in equivalent from 6200 to 11,400 BTC (an increase of 83%).
On the evening of August 15 Bitcoin was trading at $117,251, down just 0,46% from Thursday. However, on a weekly chart, according to Coinmarketcap, kriptovalyuta still up 0,84%. Over the past 24 hours, BTC has fluctuated between $116,864 and $119,332.
TradingView data
Trading volume has dropped significantly from the previous day to $74,06 billion, a decrease of 31,39%. Market capitalization, like the price, has also remained virtually unchanged, down 0,28% to $2,33 trillion over the past 24 hours. Notably, despite the sluggish price dynamics, Bitcoin dominance has increased by 0,43% to 59,87%. This suggests that altcoins are doing worse.
Bitcoin Dominance. TradingView Data
Total open positions in futures on Bitcoin, according to Coinglass, was $81,72 billion, down 1,67% from the previous day. BTC liquidations on Friday were significantly lower than Thursday. Long liquidations reached $50,45 million, while short liquidations totaled $6,54 million, bringing the total amount of leveraged positions written off to $56,99 million.
