Bitcoin Face Selling Pressure from GBTC Profit-taking Activity

Reported by The Block, the price of bitcoin could face additional downward pressure in the coming weeks if investors in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust continue to take profits, according to JPMorgan.

GBTC converted into a spot bitcoin ETF last week and has already seen over $1.5 billion worth of outflows. Last week, JPMorgan estimated up to $3 billion in GBTC outflows as speculative investors were likely to take profits.

"If the previous $3 billion estimate proves correct and given $1.5 billion has exited already, then there could be an additional $1.5 billion still to exit the bitcoin space via profit-taking on GBTC, thus putting further pressure on bitcoin prices over the coming weeks," JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note on Thursday.

GBTC investors — who over the past year had been buying the fund's shares at a significant discount to net asset value to position for the eventual ETF conversion — "have been taking full profit post-ETF conversion by exiting the bitcoin space entirely rather than shifting to cheaper spot bitcoin ETFs," the analysts said.