KEY POINTS
- BlackRock leadership used to denounce $BTC but has proven overnight they're now believers
- Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF can't even come close to BlackRock's, but the investment firm holds on
- Fidelity's FBTC is a popular choice among institutions, so its hodling activity isn't a surprise
- Crypto users know that MicroStrategy is the prime example of what hodling really means
The cryptocurrency industry is reeling from a broad financial market crash Sunday night that triggered hundreds of millions in liquidations in the past 24 hours, and while crypto holders announce their selloffs, some companies and financial titans are keeping their cool.
A bloodbath for the ages
Benjamin Cowen, the founder of the ITC Crypto newsletter, posted an image that showed just how vast the crypto market crash reached Sunday, with dozens of tokens falling in the red zone, including the top two digital assets by market cap, Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH). "Have not seen a day like this in a while in crypto," he wrote.
Have not seen a day like this in a while in crypto pic.twitter.com/6cDRZZBR9e
— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) August 5, 2024
HODLers hold on
Amid the significant sell-offs and liquidations that took place Sunday night, four companies HODLed. The term "hodl" is used by crypto users to describe the act of not selling crypto assets regardless of market sentiment and market movement – it is commonly associated with maximalists and long-term crypto holders.
Data from blockchain analytics leader Arkham Intelligence showed that the following financial giants and companies hodled their way through Sunday's bloodbath, ultimately overcoming negative sentiment in the market: BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and MicroStrategy.
You guys sold all your coins
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) August 5, 2024
… But
BlackRock
MicroStrategy
Grayscale
Fidelity
didn’t. pic.twitter.com/R2NY3rDPcQ
BlackRock's hate-then-love relationship with $BTC
It comes as no surprise that BlackRock has become a hodler, considering the change of heart of the investment behemoth's leadership.
The massive market crash comes a few weeks after BlackRock CEO Larry Fink acknowledged his past dismissive attitude toward Bitcoin, being a "proud skeptic," and then turning into a believer.
He revealed that he learned about how the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency worked and now, he believes the digital coin is a "legitimate financial instrument that allows you to have maybe an uncorrelated, non-correlated type of returns."
Grayscale's ETF struggles
Grayscale, another investment leader that launched supposed rivals to BlackRock's spot $BTC and $ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has been struggling to get retailers to choose its ETFs over BlackRock's and other issuers.
On the other hand, mini Ethereum ETF did gain traction in the early days of the spot Ether ETFs' launch, being the fund with the lowest management fee at 0.15%.
It appears Grayscale continues to believe in Bitcoin and Ethereum's ability to bounce back after a pricing downtrend, even as its crypto ETFs have yet to be big enough to challenge BlackRock's funds.
Fidelity's $FBTC a popular choice among institutions
During the season of institutions filing 13F forms, it was revealed that several institutional ETF holders diversified their portfolios and a significant number of them, including Millennium Management and Susquehanna.
Investment management firm Millennium holds over $806 million worth of Fidelity's $FBTC, while market maker Susquehanna holds some $83 million worth of Fidelity's spot Bitcoin ETF.
As with other hodlers, it appears Fidelity also believes in projections that $BTC has no other way but up.
MicroStrategy's maxi history
Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy has long been known for being a Bitcoin hodler and maximalist. The tech company, which announced earlier this year it was transitioning to a "Bitcoin development company," bought the dip in June, when the digital coin dropped from $65,000 to $64,000 lows. It is widely acknowledged as the crypto industry's prime example of what a hodler should be.
While MicroStrategy did not buy the significant dip Sunday night, it did reveal plans in a regulatory filing at the beginning of the month that it is looking to sell up to $2 billion of class A shares. The funds from the shares sales will be invested further into Bitcoin and other corporate uses.
Saylor himself has been helping calm the $BTC community down Sunday night as maxis – ultimate believers – rallied to spread positive sentiment within the space. He posted a photo of a diamond hand with the Bitcoin symbol and only captioned it with the word "HODL."
Bitcoin, Ethereum bounce back
The hodlers may have felt relief early Tuesday as the world's two top digital assets bounced back gradually after crashing. $BTC is back to $55,000 after it hit $49,000 at one point, while Ether is trading at around $2,500 after plunging to $2,100 Sunday.
