US Bitcoin ETFs showed exceptional staying power in December, accumulating more than three times the volume of Bitcoin produced by mining during the same period. ETF demand in the US reached 51,500 BTC at the end of 2024, while miners produced just 14,000 BTC.
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Bitcoin ETFs gobbled up three times miners’ output
The end of 2024 marked a remarkable chapter for Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US. These investment products absorbed around 51,500 BTC in December, nearly three times monthly mine production, which stood at around 14,000 BTC, according to data compiled by Apollo and BiTBO. In other words, demand for ETFs exceeded new supply of Bitcoin by 272%!
This momentum has manifested itself in a particularly favorable market context, with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of $108,135 on December 17.
Jesse Myers, co-founder of Onramp Bitcoin, underlines this reality:
There is not enough supply available at current prices to satisfy demand.
This trend continued in January, with ETFs attracting nearly a billion dollars of investment a day.
Miners struggle to meet the growing appetite of institutional investors
Faced with this growing institutional appetite, the production of new Bitcoins remains strictly limited by the protocol. In December, only 13,850 BTC were added to the supply in circulation. The main mining players, including Marathon Digital with 9,457 BTC produced in December, and Riot and Cleanspark with 516 and 668 BTC respectively, illustrate this limitation. These figures, while significant for the mining industry, cannot mechanically meet this explosion in institutional demand.
This situation creates what analysts refer to as a “supply shock”, as researcher Vivek has pointed out, noting that Bitcoin reserves on exchange platforms are reaching historic lows. This structural imbalance between limited supply and growing institutional demand could continue to exert upward pressure on the Bitcoin price in the months ahead.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
