Grayscale Is Now Buying 1.5 Times the Amount of Bitcoin Being Mined

Independent researcher Kevin Rooke estimates that Grayscale has ramped up its Bitcoin accumulation to a rate equivalent to 150% of the new BTC created since the halving.

Crypto fund manager Grayscale Investments is accumulating Bitcoin at a rate equivalent to 150% of the new coins created by miners since the May 11 block reward halving. 

According to data published by independent crypto researcher Kevin Rooke, Grayscale has added 18,910 BTC to its Bitcoin Investment Trust since the halving, while only 12,337 Bitcoins have been mined since May 11.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reposted the chart, commenting: “There isn't enough new supply to go around, even for just one guy”.

Grayscale absorbs BTC supply

Last week, Rooke estimated that Grayscale had been buying Bitcoin at a rate equal to between 33% and 34% of new supply during the first quarter of 2020, having accumulated 60,762 BTC over 100 days. 

During the quarter, Grayscale also saw average weekly investment into its trust reach $29.9 million — comprising an 800% gain year-over-year.

In response to Rooke’s tweet publishing the figures, Grayscale founder Barry Silbert commented: “just wait until you see Q2.”

Rooke’s latest data indicates that Grayscale is now purchasing nearly double the number of coins per day on average — with Rooke’s post-halving estimate equating to 1,112.35 BTC per day, up from 607.62 BTC during Q1.

Grayscale sounds off on CBDCs

In a recent report published by Grayscale, the firm sought to rebuke analogies comparing Bitcoin to central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC).

“CBDCs are sometimes viewed as synonymous to, or as replacements for, digital currencies like Bitcoin, but they represent a meaningful departure from the decentralized protocols inherent to many cryptocurrencies,” the report stated.

“CBDCs attempt to upgrade payment infrastructure while Bitcoin is an attempt to upgrade money. If CBDCs gain traction, they may actually bolster the value proposition for Bitcoin and other digital currencies,” Grayscale added.

The report echoed the sentiment of economist John Vaz, who recently told Cointelegraph that CBDCs comprise “a kind of rearguard action being fought by the central banks because they don’t like cryptocurrency”.

“Central bank digital currencies are probably more about tracking money than providing benefit,” Vaz observed.