Trump-Era White House Official Ties Grayscale Sell-Off, FTX Unloading To Bitcoin's Slipping Price Amid Spot ETF Launch

SkyBridge Capital’s founder and Donald Trump-Era White House Communications Director,  Anthony Scaramucci, pointed to a sell-off in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (NYSE:GBTC) shares as a contributing factor to the Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) price decline.

What Happened:  During an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday, Scaramucci said, “There seems to be a lot of selling of Grayscale,” as GBTC share owners liquidated their holdings following the conversion from a trust, spurred by the nod from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) towards Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Bitcoin achieved a surge, reaching $46,000 on Friday and even climbed to a two-year high of $49,000 on Thursday, after the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Nevertheless, this ascent in prices was temporary. BTC is trading at $42,000 levels at the time of writing.

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Why It Matters: GBTC had chalked up a trading volume of $2.3 billion on Thursday, marking the largest first-day turnover an ETF has ever witnessed. Despite this milestone and GBTC’s pivotal role in Bitcoin access, the fund’s shares dipped by 5.2% on Friday, standing at $38.58, after having surged over 300% the previous year—outpacing Bitcoin’s own nearly 160% gain.

Adding another layer to the dynamics influencing Bitcoin’s market, Scaramucci said sales related to the bankruptcy estate of the former crypto giant, FTX: “The second thing we are seeing is the bankruptcy estate of FTX is unloading into the ETF announcement. There is a heavy volume of selling in Bitcoin right now.” He expressed an expectation for the supply excess to level out within “the next six to eight trading days.”

Furthermore, Wall Street’s restrained marketing activities, dubbed a “quiet period” by Scaramucci, is anticipated to end shortly.”Wall Street has not been able to market these ETFs and that will start in about eight days as well,” Scaramucci added.

Photo by World Economic Forum on Flickr

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Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $46,050.65 up 0.38% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.