Bitcoin Price Surges On Positive CPI Numbers

Source – Brave New Coin Bitcoin Liquid Index

Bitcoin sentiment is bullish for the first time in weeks, and this is mirrored by daily net inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs. The U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of $100.5 million on May 14, with the ARK 21 Shares’ Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) recording the largest inflows on the day, more than covering another outflow from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

Adding fuel to the bullish momentum, this week saw a series of announcements by various entities with spot ETF exposure. In the first quarter of this year, the state of Wisconsin made a significant move by purchasing 94,562 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at nearly $100 million, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), acquiring shares worth approximately $64 million, as revealed in a recent filing. This transaction, disclosed in the quarterly 13F report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marks Wisconsin as the first US state to publicly announce its investment in Bitcoin.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote on X, “Normally you don’t get these big fish institutions in the 13Fs for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity) but as we’ve seen these are no ordinary launches. Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”

Established in 1951, the investment board, known as SWIB oversees assets exceeding $156 billion, manages portfolios for entities such as the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and the State Investment Fund (SIF), among others. This revelation coincides with the March 15 deadline for institutional investment managers with assets under management surpassing $100 million to submit their quarterly holdings.

However, the biggest holder of Bitcoin via the ETFs is investment management company Millennium Management which revealed holdings of almost $2 billion in exposure. The firm reported owning $844,181,820 of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, $45,001,320 of ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF, $44,737,805 of Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, $202,029,915 of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, $806,640,303 of Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund for a combined total of $1,942,591,163. This was revealed through a SEC 13F-HR institutional investment manager holdings report filed on Wednesday. It represents approximately 3% of their $64b fund.

El Salvador revealed that it has utilized volcanic geothermal energy to mine 474 Bitcoins, valued at $29 million. This energy, sourced from the Tecapa volcano, powered 300 mining processors. Despite concerns about Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact, El Salvador has distinguished itself as a leader in renewable energy mining. The country has dedicated 1.5 megawatts (MW) out of its state-owned power plant’s 102 MW capacity to cryptocurrency mining, as reported by Reuters.

In a historic move in 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the US dollar. Since then, the government has implemented various Bitcoin-centric policies, including the establishment of a geothermal plant for mining BTC. With an accumulation of 5,750 BTC, valued at approximately $354 million, El Salvador demonstrates its commitment to embracing digital assets and sustainable economic development.

Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter turned entrepreneur backing multiple crypto ventures, is the latest to predict a $1 million Bitcoin by 2030. During an interview with Pirate Wires, Dorsey was asked for a price prediction and stated, “I don’t know. Over… at least a million. I do think it hits that number and goes beyond.” However, Dorsey emphasized that his interest lies in the broader ecosystem and movement surrounding Bitcoin. Dorsey highlighted its capacity to empower individuals contributing to its improvement, asserting, “The most amazing thing about Bitcoin, apart from the founding story, is anyone who works on it, or gets paid in it, or buys it for themselves—everyone who puts any effort in to make it better—is making the entire ecosystem better, which makes the price go up.”

Despite the disparity between Bitcoin’s current value of $65,958 and Dorsey’s lofty prediction, other prominent figures in the industry share similarly bullish outlooks. Cathie Wood, the CEO of Ark Invest, has famously given a price target of $1.5 million by 2030.