Daily Report | 44% of institutional investors increased their holdings in Bitcoin spot ETFs in the second quarter; BlackRock surpassed Grayscale to become the largest digital asset fund manager by total assets under management; Indian developer Sahil Arora made approximately $30 million this year through celebrity coins
August 15 News OverviewOrganizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Chinese citizens kidnapped in Malaysia, family pays $1.2 million in cryptocurrency ransom
- Analysis: Market overreacts to U.S. government selling Bitcoin
- Data: 6 Hong Kong virtual asset ETFs have a trading volume of approximately HKD 9.19 million today
- Exclusive: Millennium, the institution holding the most BTC ETFs in Q1, reduced its BTC ETF holdings by over 40% in Q2
- BlackRock surpasses Grayscale to become the largest digital asset fund manager by total assets
- U.S. government transferred nearly $1 billion in BTC to Coinbase in three batches this year; BTC dropped 5% within three days after the first two transfers
- 44% of institutional investors increased their holdings in Bitcoin spot ETFs in Q2
- Bubblemaps: Indian developer Sahil Arora made approximately $30 million this year through celebrity tokens
"What important events occurred in the last 24 hours"
Chinese citizens kidnapped in Malaysia, family pays $1.2 million in cryptocurrency ransom
According to Caixin, Malaysian police recently cracked a kidnapping case involving Chinese citizens.
The victims, a Chinese man and a local woman, were kidnapped after arriving in Malaysia in July. Their family paid a ransom of $1.2 million (approximately RMB 8.62 million) in cryptocurrency, after which the two victims were released. Police recovered approximately $373,000 (about RMB 2.68 million) in cash, as well as vehicles, watches, and jewelry worth about $700,000 (approximately RMB 5.02 million).
It is reported that the mastermind behind the case was the victims' private driver.
Analysis: Market overreacts to U.S. government selling Bitcoin
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. government's transfer of Bitcoin today increased selling pressure, causing Bitcoin prices to drop further. Axel Adler Jr., a contributor at the on-chain analysis platform CryptoQuant, stated that large market participants are dominating the risk-averse response to the latest transfers by "selling the news." He pointed out, "Whenever Arkham posts news about currency movements on Twitter, shorts immediately start selling the market. The sale of 10,000 Bitcoins by the U.S. government will have no impact, but the fact itself will trigger such a response."
According to data from crypto intelligence firm Arkham, the largest batch of confiscated cryptocurrency by the U.S. government this year, totaling 10,000 BTC (worth $581 million), was transferred to Coinbase for trading. This event offset any positive effects from changes in the U.S. macroeconomic environment, such as the consumer price index (CPI) failing to boost Bitcoin prices. Analysis platform Lookonchain showed that Bitcoin transfers by the U.S. government in 2024 have repeatedly triggered mimetic responses in the market. This year, the U.S. government transferred 15,940 BTC worth $966.4 million to Coinbase Prime in three transactions. Bitcoin prices dropped approximately 5% within three days after the first two transfers.
Data: 6 Hong Kong virtual asset ETFs have a trading volume of approximately HKD 9.19 million today
Hong Kong stock market data shows that as of market close, the trading volume of 6 Hong Kong virtual asset ETFs today was HKD 9.19 million.
Among them:
- Huaxia Bitcoin ETF (3042.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 6.7077 million;
- Huaxia Ethereum ETF (3046.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 691,000;
- Harvest Bitcoin ETF (3439.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 398,000;
- Harvest Ethereum ETF (3179.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 33,500;
- Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (3008.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 824,700;
- Bosera HashKey Ethereum ETF (3009.HK) had a trading volume of HKD 534,300.
According to the 13-F filing submitted by Millennium Management to the SEC, Millennium held BlackRock's IBIT, Grayscale's GBTC, Bitwise's BITB, Fidelity's FBTC, and ARK's ARKB in Q2, with approximately $1.14 billion in Bitcoin spot ETF assets. In contrast, its BTC ETF assets in Q1 were approximately $2 billion, making it the institution with the most Bitcoin spot ETFs in Q1.
Millennium reduced its Bitcoin ETF holdings by over 40%, with IBIT down 48%, FBTC down 14%, GBTC down 52%, and BITB up 71%. The largest reduction was in IBIT, which saw a decrease of 9.98 million shares, worth approximately $470 million (details in the image below).
It is reported that Millennium Management was founded in 1989 and is known for its multi-strategy hedge funds. Its total assets in Q1 were $234 billion, slightly decreasing to $215.9 billion in Q2, with its crypto investments accounting for less than one percent.
BlackRock surpasses Grayscale to become the largest digital asset fund manager by total assets
CoinShares research director James Butterfill revealed on X that BlackRock has recently surpassed Grayscale to become the largest digital asset fund manager by total assets.
As of August 15, BlackRock's crypto ETF assets under management reached $22 billion, while Grayscale's crypto ETF assets under management reached $20.7 billion.
According to Lookonchain's monitoring statistics, the U.S. government has transferred a total of 15,940 Bitcoins worth approximately $966.4 million to Coinbase Prime in three batches this year.
Statistics show that BTC's price dropped approximately 5% within three days after the first two transfers.
Previous news indicated that a U.S. government-associated address starting with bc1ql transferred 10,000 BTC to the Coinbase Prime wallet one hour ago, worth approximately $593.5 million.
44% of institutional investors increased their holdings in Bitcoin spot ETFs in Q2
Data from Bitwise shows that in Q2, approximately 66% of institutional investors held or increased their positions in Bitcoin through U.S. spot exchange-traded funds.
According to the 13F filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 44% of asset managers increased their Bitcoin ETF positions in Q2, while 22% maintained stability. Only 21% reduced their positions, and 13% exited.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated, "This is a pretty good result, comparable to other ETFs."
Blockchain data visualization platform Bubblemaps released a report revealing that Indian developer Sahil Arora made approximately $30 million in 2024 by issuing tokens for celebrities. The report noted that Arora, who currently resides in Dubai, has issued tokens for several well-known figures such as Iggy Azalea and Caitlyn Jenner, but most projects ultimately went to zero.
Arora operates through the Pump.fun platform, leveraging his Instagram influence and verification badge to persuade celebrities to promote token addresses for high compensation. He typically holds 25-40% of the token supply and sells immediately after the celebrity tweets, using the celebrity's fans as exit liquidity.
Bubblemaps identified over 40 addresses associated with Arora. From the beginning of 2024 to now, he has cashed out approximately $26.4 million, with the highest cash-out amount in August reaching $6.6 million. Despite causing significant losses for many investors, Arora's actions fall within a legal gray area, making it difficult to hold him accountable. Even the celebrities involved have not taken action against him due to shared responsibility.
OKX to launch ARKM, PIXEL, BOME spot trading
According to an official announcement, OKX will soon launch ARKM, PIXEL, and BOME.
The specific schedule is as follows:
- ARKM, PIXEL, BOME deposit opening time: August 15, 10:00 AM (UTC+8)
- ARKM, PIXEL, BOME withdrawal opening time: August 16, 6:00 PM (UTC+8)
Multiple suspects in the Holograph June hacking incident arrested in Italy
The full-chain NFT protocol Holograph announced on social media: "After two months of extremely intense pursuit by the French Cybercrime Prevention Office (OFAC), BRI, Europol, the Italian Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS), we are pleased to announce that several individuals have been arrested in connection with the Holograph hacking incident that occurred on June 13.
As part of the arrest operation, a large number of assets and electronic devices have been frozen and seized. The arrests took place in Italy with the assistance of French authorities. The suspects will soon be extradited to France for trial. Due to the ongoing investigation, the names of the suspects cannot be disclosed at this time at the request of French authorities. The team will share more information regarding the recovery of Holograph ecosystem assets."
"What excellent articles are worth reading in the last 24 hours"
"Grayscale Effect" reappears, what exactly has the listing of spot ETFs brought to Grayscale?
The U.S. regulatory approval of crypto ETFs has turned Grayscale's fortunes around, but it has also introduced stronger competitors. The landscape of crypto asset management has undergone significant changes with the entry of traditional asset management firms. Grayscale's new layout is urgent, having launched 6 new crypto trusts in the past three months.
Since OpenAI released the video generation AI model Sora, AI has once again become the hottest track in today's market, with waves of investment flooding in, and innovative projects merging AI and Web3 emerging like mushrooms after rain. According to crypto data platform Rootdata, there are nearly 240 projects listed in the "AI and Web3" sector, which has clearly become an independent track, with the decentralized AI network Sahara being one of the star projects in this sector.
Sahara was created by Sean Ren and Tyler Zhou in May last year, aiming to provide decentralized AI network infrastructure to facilitate AI assetization, helping users deploy or build customized and personalized AI products.
Sean Ren is a tenured professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Southern California, with 15 years of industry research experience in AI; Tyler Zhou previously served as the investment director at Binance Labs and participated in multiple project investments and incubations.
In March of this year, Sahara announced that it had completed a $6 million financing led by Polychain Capital back in August last year, with participation from investment firms such as Sequoia Capital, Samsung Next, and Nomad Capital.
The two founders told ChainCatcher that Sahara has provided data services to over 30 corporate clients, including well-known companies like Microsoft, Amazon, MIT, Snapchat, and Character AI, and has already generated millions of dollars in revenue.
In an exclusive interview with ChainCatcher, Tyler Zhou revealed that Sahara will launch consumer products in April-May; the Sahara testnet will go live in Q3, with plans to launch the mainnet in Q4.
On April 4, Sahara launched its first points activity, Sahara Social, on the task platform Galxe for early users, allowing users to earn early point rewards by connecting to the Sahara network and registering for the waiting list.
In the past six months, Grayscale has launched 6 new crypto trust funds again. After August 1, SUI saw a surge after Grayscale launched its trust fund, leading to the prevailing view that "Sui is the Solana killer."
Currently, Grayscale's crypto trusts have reached 21 (excluding BTC and ETH), but how much impact does Grayscale's launch of trust funds have on these crypto assets? PANews has summarized that the impact of Grayscale's trust funds on token prices is severely differentiated, with a high boosting effect on leading projects in popular market tracks, while having minimal impact on long-established coins. Additionally, the timing of Grayscale's concentrated launch of crypto trusts seems to coincide with the end of bull markets.
An analysis of the lending protocol Morpho: How did it raise over $80 million?
On the first day of August, the lending protocol Morpho Labs announced the completion of a $50 million financing round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from top venture capital firms such as a16z crypto. Notably, this marks a16z's second investment in Morpho.
So, what kind of lending protocol is Morpho, and what unique advantages does it possess that have attracted such large-scale funding?
As the author of the Ethereum white paper and a co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik's every move has varying degrees of influence on the cryptocurrency industry, and his statements at various events are seen as one of the "industry barometers." Projects he endorses or mentions multiple times are regarded as "orthodox Ethereum projects."
On August 7, Vitalik stated, "From my perspective, both L1 and L2 confirm transactions in seconds, with L2 transaction costs below $0.01. The performance of Farcaster, Lens, and Polymarket over the past year has been astonishing, and we are beginning to enter the ZK ID and ZK voting phase." He consistently praised the development of L2 networks and highly recognized popular products in other tracks.
