There is a great debate going on among the followers of the crypto market about the impact of the opening of GBTC shares on Bitcoin, there are those who see it as having a bearish effect and some of them who see it as being neutral or perhaps even a bullish one.

Among those who have voiced their input in the controversy is FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fred who stated that the pool of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares being sold on the secondary market does not really matter to Bitcoin.

Sam Bankman-Fried states that there will be net buying pressure in the cryptocurrency markets but does not rule out the possibility of anything happening.

Read:Nexo accused of liquidating user accounts after cryptocurrency plunge

Remember: most GBTC generators do arbs; Most people buy in the long markets.

So the unlocking issue doesn’t really matter to BTC, if people are selling GBTC, most of them will buy BTC for it.

– SBF (SBF_Alameda) 12 July 2021

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has a delayed redemption mechanism, whereby GBTC originators are required to hold their shares for half a year before selling them.

The January sample of GBTC shares is scheduled to open in July.

According to cryptocurrency data collection platform Bybt, 16,240 bitcoins ($556 million at press time) will be issued on July 18 alone.

All in all, 40,000 bitcoins ($1.4 billion) are expected to open this month.

Bearish and bullish narratives:

Cryptocurrency experts and analysts are divided over whether openings will negatively affect the price of bitcoin.

Nikolaus Panigerzoglu, a strategic analyst at JPMorgan, predicted and considered a bearish view of the impact of the opening of GBTC on Bitcoin, and predicted that GBTC shares in the cryptocurrency market would be an additional headwind for major cryptocurrencies, stating about this by saying:

Read:Coinbase announces the inclusion of a number of DeFi currencies on its platform

The sale of GBTC shares exiting their six-month closing period during June and July is an additional headwind for Bitcoin.

On the other hand, the Kraken Intelligence research team does not expect that unlocking the $560 million lock will have a noticeable impact on the cryptocurrency market, as their statement was:

Although 40,000 Bitcoins of GBTC shares were opened in July, the market structure suggests that the unlocking won’t affect the Bitcoin spot markets anytime soon, as some claim.

While the crypto financial services company Amber Group has predicted that institutional investors who borrowed bitcoin to take advantage of the huge fund premium in early 2021 will now have to buy back the currencies in spot markets in order to repay the obligations.

Lots of negative chatter about opening GBTC while ignoring those debt-financed in-kind contributions will eventually translate into instant buying.

Read:Nothing new… the SEC delays ETF decision

– Amber Group (@ambergroup_io) 2 July 2021

Currently, GBTC shares have been trading at a discount to net asset value (NAV) since early May due to increased competition and waning interest in Bitcoin among institutional investors.

Read also:

The person who accidentally threw a hard drive containing 7500 Bitcoin has a new plan to recover it!

Study: Bitcoin and “Dogecoin” are the number one investment for 45% of British youth