The company Arkham, specializing in on-chain intelligence, has announced the identification of four lists of connected addresses associated with four new spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These address groups are linked to fund managers, including Blackrock, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton.
Previously, Arkham disclosed the assets of GBTC, and thanks to this latest revelation, Arkham has now identified half of the ETFs in the U.S. market.
However, the identified addresses contain 39,925 BTC, which is less than the 44,004 BTC reported by IBIT. Analysis shows that IBIT’s funds are distributed across multiple addresses, each holding a maximum of 1,200 BTC. Additionally, the Franklin Templeton EZBC ETF was accurately identified, and its on-chain assets align with the data presented by asset managers.
Arkham’s investigation also uncovered the assets of the Wise Origin spot Bitcoin ETF from Fidelity, FBTC, amounting to 34,127 BTC. This finding aligns with Fidelity’s latest update as of January 23, 2024.
The wallets of Bitwise’s BITB fund were also identified, holding 11,188 BTC. Furthermore, Bitwise manages additional crypto assets for the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index fund, known as BITW.
Coinbase Custody controls the assets of all mentioned ETFs, except for Fidelity. Fidelity utilizes its own BTC reserve storage services. Among the transactions of the other three ETFs, Coinbase frequently acts as the primary counterparty. The availability of on-chain data about these new funds significantly enhances market transparency.
However, it was revealed that not all new ETFs have the corresponding amount of Bitcoin in their accounts. The identified discrepancy of 4,079 BTC in IBIT alone raises significant questions. It can be assumed that within the first two weeks of the Bitcoin ETF market launch, “paper” bitcoins worth $160 million have already appeared.
And this is only the first two weeks of ETF operation, with $160 million worth of bitcoins seemingly created out of thin air. Moreover, addresses of only half of the funds have been disclosed so far. We will continue to monitor Arkham’s reports in the future, although first, we need to understand what kind of company Arkham Intelligence is.
This company has already attracted regulatory attention due to its new “dox-to-earn” program, bringing increased scrutiny to its founder, Miguel Morello.
Before founding Arkham, Morello was a co-founder of Reserve with Nevin Freeman. Another dubious entity that created its stablecoin RSV, the current liquidity of which compared to USDT is zero.
Morello was invited to some soul-searching conversations, then released peacefully. Who knows what they agreed upon there. Major scammers establish Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, while smaller ones cover them. Welcome to the world of cryptocurrencies!
If I needed to order an audit of counterparts with trillions of dollars in turnover, I would undoubtedly entrust the task to such a charming Latin American.