‘The Great Accumulation’ of Bitcoin has begun, says Gemini’s Winklevoss

Recently renewed optimism for an approved Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) is igniting “The Great Accumulation Race” for Bitcoin, according to industry pundits.

Over the past week, Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie have followed investment giant BlackRock in applying for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the United States Securities Exchange Commission, which some analysts believe is the reason for Bitcoin’s 19% price surge to $30,240 since June 16.

5 Bitcoin ETF applications in 5 days! – Blackrock – Fidelity- Invesco – Wisdom Tree- Valkyrie

— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) June 21, 2023

Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, stated on June 21 that he believes “The Great Accumulation” of Bitcoin has begun between institutions and retail investors.

He suggested that buying Bitcoin prior to the ETFs hitting the public market is akin to that of a pre-Initial Public Offering purchase and suggested that the “floodgates” for buying Bitcoin are “closing fast.”

The Great Accumulation of bitcoin has begun. Anyone watching the flurry of ETF filings understands the window to purchase pre-IPO bitcoin before ETFs go live and open the floodgates is closing fast. If bitcoin was the most obvious and best investment of the previous decade, this…

— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) June 21, 2023

MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor weighed in on the subject in his own post, suggesting that retail investors may soon be pushed aside by increasing institutional demand:

“The window to front-run institutional demand for Bitcoin is closing.”

Bitcoin is currently trading hands for $30,240, while the Crypto Fear and Greed index has skyrocketed from 49 (Neutral) to 65 (Greed) in just the last two days.

In a June 21 interview with CNBC, Bitcoin investor Anthony Pompliano said he expects a tug-of-war to play out between retail investors and Wall Street:

“We have institutions and individuals scrambling to try to get their share of the 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be in existence. The retail investor for 15 years now has a head start and has accumulated all the Bitcoin that’s been mined and put into circulation, but 68% of that hasn’t moved in a year.”

“People forget that bitcoin went from $0 to nearly $1 trillion market cap with almost no institutional participation,” Pompliano said in a June 21 tweet.

So when “Wall Street and BlackRock show up to the market,” Pompliano expects Bitcoin to become “highly illiquid” because retailers “don’t want to sell to Wall Street,” he added during the CNBC interview.

BlackRock shows up and bitcoin is up 20% for the week.

People forget that bitcoin went from $0 to nearly $1 trillion market cap with almost no institutional participation.

If retail investors were good for $1T, what do you think happens when the deep pockets come play?

— Pomp (@APompliano) June 21, 2023

Related: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust nears 2023 highs on BlackRock ETF filing as buyers step up

Meanwhile, Dylan LeClair, a Bitcoin analyst and founder of 21st Paradigm, explained that Bitcoin’s price is now “extremely inelastic” — “more so than ever” — amid the recent ETF filings, which are serving as a “catalyst” for large amounts of new flows into the market.

However, LeClair predicts that no ETF application will be approved by the SEC until January or February 2024 at the earliest.

Bitcoin’s supply is extremely inelastic, more so than ever currently.

A spot ETF is obviously a catalyst for a large amount of new flows to come into the market, which not only has changed the narrative but has prompted others to front run said future flows.

TLDR: Send it. pic.twitter.com/Jd8Gm8o3Mx

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) June 21, 2023

Magazine: Hall of Flame: William Clemente III tips Bitcoin will hit six figures toward end of 2024