Bitcoin ‘Ghost Whale’ Emerges: New Hong Kong Filer Tops Q4 IBIT Buys

A beforehand unknown Hong Kong-linked entity referred to as Laurore Ltd. surfaced as a serious new purchaser of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) within the newest 13F disclosures, triggering a scramble amongst ETF watchers to determine who’s behind it and why the place seems purpose-built.

The catalyst was a put up from ProCap CIO and Bitwise adviser Jeff Park late Tuesday, who highlighted Laurore because the “largest new entrant into IBIT” from what he described as “a model new entity” with “no web site. No press. No footprint.” The solely public breadcrumbs, Park mentioned, are that “the filer’s title is Zhang Hui and it’s HK primarily based.”

A Bloomberg terminal snapshot shared alongside the thread exhibits Laurore Ltd. reporting an IBIT place of 8,786,279 shares (price roughly $337,3 million), amounting to roughly 0.65% of shares excellent. The entry sits above a roster of recognizable allocators and intermediaries in the identical view, underscoring how rapidly the entity landed amongst prime reported holders.

Who Is The Mysterious New Bitcoin IBIT Whale?

Park’s thesis leaned closely on construction and signaling quite than confirmed identification. “Zhang Hui is the Chinese equal of John Smith. It’s what I prefer to name a ‘non-anonymous nameless’ title, one thing hiding in plain sight buried below the statistical weight of tens of millions to make it untraceable,” he wrote. “The ‘Ltd’ suffix suggests a Cayman or BVI construction, the basic offshore wrapper for accessing US markets. And the portfolio? A single holding. Nothing however IBIT.”

He then framed the place as one thing nearer to a bespoke entry rail than a standard supervisor allocation. “This isn’t a diversified fund. It’s a $436 million Bitcoin entry automobile wearing institutional clothes,” Park wrote, earlier than pivoting to motive: “Because Chinese investors can’t maintain Bitcoin.”

Park argued that if the learn is appropriate, it may level to Chinese institutional capital looking for publicity “not via crypto exchanges or grey market channels, however via a BlackRock ETF,” utilizing a jurisdiction he referred to as “probably the most ‘clear non-transparent’ place conceivable.”

Others within the ETF analysis orbit supplied much less romance and extra uncertainty. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart replied that he had already tried to chase the path. “I spent nearly an hour attempting to determine this out earlier this morning… I received completely nowhere. Lol,” he wrote, capturing a broader level: public filings can reveal measurement and timing whereas nonetheless maintaining helpful possession largely opaque.

A response by COO and CIO of DeFi Development Corporation (NASDAQ: DFDV) Parker White claimed Laurore Ltd. “seems to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hao Advisors Management,” citing a shared deal with and what he described as overlapping signatory names.

Parker added that the deal with sits in “some of the prestigious workplace complexes in HK,” a constructing he mentioned is “broadly know[n] for the biggest hedge funds,” and argued the setup “appears to be very nicely structured and really skilled.”

Park pushed again on equating title similarity with shared management, however agreed {that a} shared workplace deal with is probably not a smoking gun. After one other commenter advised the potential for a “fund hq” or registered deal with association the place “not one of the folks truly work there,” Park responded: “Bingo.”

However, none of that is confirmed. It’s knowledgeable hypothesis, and the underlying possession stays opaque for now.

At press time, BTC traded at $67,713.