Canadian Bitcoin ETF adds 6.9K BTC in one day as GBTC discount hits record low

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) descending to $24,000 has cost its largest institutional investment vehicle more than the average hodler.

According to data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass on May 13, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is now trading at a nearly 31% discount.

Amid ongoing market volatility this week, GBTC has seen its fledgling recovery fall flat on its face — for the time being.

The so-called GBTC premium, long in negative territory and thus a discount in practice, has now reached its lowest ever.

As of May 13, the discount was 30.6%, meaning that shares in GBTC traded at almost one third below the Bitcoin spot price (referred to as net asset value, or NAV).

The figures mark a distinct turnaround for the premium, which in mid-April had managed to rise to a 21% discount.

Overall, however, GBTC has long traded at a discount amid ongoing attempts by Grayscale to convert it to an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

“It took clarity and conviction to set up GBTC, and now Grayscale is demonstrating courage and commitment in their campaign to convert GBTC into a Spot Bitcoin ETF. They deserve your support,” MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, argued this week, inviting Twitter followers to demand that U.S. regulators green-light the plans.

Such a move would be unprecedented in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lagged behind other countries’ authorities in approving a Bitcoin spot-based ETF.

Despite the turbulence, meanwhile, Grayscale CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, remained as optimistic as ever on GBTC and institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure.

“I think that some investors are likely waiting for things to settle down,” he told CNBC in an interview on May 12.

Over the border in Canada, the world’s