BITCOIN

Is the world's third largest Bitcoin address controlled by BlackRock? What are the reasons for this speculation being unreasonable? Who actually owns it?

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Recently, an asset with rapid growth, the Bitcoin address bc1ql49, has caught the attention of the crypto community. In just three months, it has accumulated 120,000 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.1 billion, making it the third-largest Bitcoin holding address globally, behind only Binance and Bitfinex.

Regarding this matter, the crypto community has pointed fingers at BlackRock, which recently applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF. But is it really possible that this address belongs to BlackRock?

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Bloomberg Analyst Debunks Rumors, Address Not Belonging to BlackRock

Regarding the circulating rumor in the crypto community that the address belongs to BlackRock, Bloomberg research analyst James Seyffart clearly stated that BlackRock would not invest hundreds of millions of dollars like the address in question, nor would they make large Bitcoin purchases for a potentially approved ETF.

"BlackRock would not be accumulating Bitcoin before the fund goes live. Yes, technically they might have Bitcoin exposure through other funds they manage or even their own proprietary positions. But the Bitcoin used for the ETF Bitcoin Spot ETF would likely be purchased the day before the fund goes live," James Seyffart said.

After the fund is live, any new inflows will be used to buy new Bitcoins to create shares of the ETF, where Authorized Participants will send Bitcoins to the ETF issuer in return for proportionate shares of the ETF.

The diagram below, created by BlackRock, illustrates the ETF operation process clearly.

If Not BlackRock, Who Owns the Address?

If not BlackRock, then who owns the address?

According to Wu Said Blockchain's report, after investigating the fund flow, it was found that the assets in the address mainly came from the former third-largest Bitcoin holder address globally 1LQoWist, and CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju once mentioned that addresses starting with "1L" may belong to the cold wallet address of the Gemini exchange.

Therefore, compared to BlackRock, the likelihood is higher that this address is owned by Gemini.