Blockchain research platform Arcam Intelligence has claimed to have identified on-chain Bitcoin (BTC) addresses backing several spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.
Arkham responded to X (formerly Twitter) on January 22nd. identified On-chain locations for four Bitcoin ETFs, including those issued by BlackRock, Bitwise, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton.How to use Arkham datayou can see the hashes of transactions processed by the four Spot Bitcoin ETFs directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
According to the data, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is currently hold 33,430BTC, equivalent to approximately $1.3 billion. This information represents public data on IBIT holdings. disclosed On the BlackRock website.
The latest revelations come months after Arcam claimed to have identified an address for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) in September 2023, but the trust was listed on U.S. stock exchanges on January 10th. It was converted into a Spot Bitcoin ETF following historic approval by the Commission. 2024. GBTC is the largest Spot Bitcoin ETF among approved funds, holding 558,280 BTC, or approximately $29 billion, at the time of writing.
If this is true, Arkham has yet to identify the addresses of five more Spot Bitcoin ETFs currently operating in the United States. These include those from ARK Invest and 21Shares, Invesco and Galaxy, VanEck, Valkyrie and WisdomTree.
BREAKING: ETF addresses for BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton have been added to Arcam.
Arcam has identified the on-chain locations of four Bitcoin ETFs. We are the first to publicly identify these addresses.
The breakdown of links and holdings is as follows. pic.twitter.com/gFJAIklwtc
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) January 22, 2024
Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts are calling on Bitcoin ETF issuers to make public the Bitcoin addresses that back their products in order to ensure the safety of the underlying BTC. Some industry observers have even suggested that Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers will eventually need to disclose their addresses to improve their competitiveness.
Related: Alameda Research drops lawsuit against Grayscale due to concerns about GBTC leakage
However, some executives have warned of security risks associated with disclosing on-chain addresses for Spot Bitcoin ETFs. In November 2022, Grayscale refused to disclose on-chain wallet information, citing “security concerns.”
According to Ophelia Snyder, co-founder of 21.co and 21Shares, exposing Spot Bitcoin ETF wallet addresses could have “unintended consequences.”
“You have to be very careful about how you do that,” Snyder said in an interview with Cointelegraph in early January. “It raises a lot of issues with the trading infrastructure, including exposing wallet addresses with unintended consequences,” she said.
Related: Coinbase goes to court with SEC, SBF parent seeks dismissal of lawsuit, and Bitcoin ETF: Hodler's Digest, January 14-20
