Cryptocurrency asset management company Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, shared his personal views on the current cryptocurrency market on X last night.
According to Matt Hougan, after examining the history of Bitcoin, various factors have led to an early increase in the “future market demand for Bitcoin,” which has been placed in a “lockbox.” The main culprit for this is the Grayscale Asset Management company’s GBTC.
Matt Hougan pointed out that before the formal transition to an ETF, GBTC was used by hedge funds to earn premiums, which prematurely stimulated future demand worth billions of dollars. Other factors, including the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox and the seizure of assets from Silk Road, have also contributed to Bitcoin being placed in a “lockbox.” Matt Hougan explained:
These lockboxes have kept the price of Bitcoin at a higher level than in a freely flowing market, which is good. However, now, with the launch of ETFs and the passage of time, we are unlocking these assets. As a result, Bitcoin must attract billions of dollars in new demand to maintain the current situation. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas previously stated that Mt. Gox currently holds 141,686 BTC, worth over 9.26 billion US dollars, which cancels out more than half of the Bitcoin ETF inflows.
Matt Hougan believes that the market has already absorbed most of the pending assets. For example, the outflow of funds from GBTC has stabilized. However, many factors have not yet been completely digested, which has an impact on today’s market. However, Matt Hougan also added that:
