Arkham Intel finds wallets associated with Wisdomtree's Physical Bitcoin ETP WBIT

The blockchain data tracking firm Arkham Intel found wallets associated with WBIT, a physical Bitcoin BTC -1.35% exchange-traded product (ETP) from the asset manager WisdomTree. 

WBIT holds 8,900 BTC , worth around $579 million, across 134 wallets, Arkham noted on the social media platform X Friday. 

"WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin is a physically backed exchange-traded product (ETP) designed to offer shareholders a simple, secure and cost-efficient way to gain exposure to the price of Bitcoin,” according to WBIT’s website . “The ETP provides for easy investor access, tradability, transparency and institutional custody solutions with a robust physically backed structure."

A physically-backed bitcoin ETP is comparable to a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in that both products hold Bitcoin as their underlying asset. While both closely follow the price of bitcoin, a spot bitcoin ETF may use derivatives to track the price of bitcoin without needing the investor to hold the coin. A physically-backed bitcoin ETP, such as WBIT, entitles investors to a portion of bitcoin owned by the fund in cold storage. 

WisdomTree also issues the spot bitcoin ETF (WBTC) was approved on Jan. 10, 2024. BTCW saw $31.6 million in U.S. dollar volume on Apr. 24 and $10.6 million on Apr. 25, according to The Block's Data Dashboard.