Per the CEO of Hut 8, a bitcoin mining company listed on the Toronto stock exchange, major financial institutions have made inquiries to purchase bitcoin directly from the firm. Additionally, the Hut 8 executive emphasized the forthcoming halving event’s “big impact,” noting a surge in demand juxtaposed with a reduction in available bitcoins.
Financial Giants Knocking: Hut 8 Fielding Requests for Direct Bitcoin Buy-Ins
With just 15 days remaining until the Bitcoin reward halving, the block subsidies will be halved from 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125 BTC per block afterward. This adjustment will decrease miners’ daily rewards from the current 900 BTC to 450 following block height 840,000. In a recent conversation between DL News and Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot, it was revealed that there is a significant surge in demand these days.
Genoot revealed to the reporter Thomas Carreras that prominent financial institutions have approached Hut 8 (TSX: HUT) to procure bitcoin (BTC) amid shortages on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. “We’ve had banks reach out to us to try to buy our bitcoin because of the supply shortages on these different exchanges,” stated the Hut 8 executive to Carreras.
This statement coincides with the period during which ten major U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have accumulated over 500,000 BTC since Jan. 11, 2024. The CEO of Hut 8 also discussed the imminent Bitcoin reward halving event, anticipated to occur at some point between April 18 and April 20, contingent upon block intervals.
“The supply coming down by 50%, from 900 Bitcoin to 450 Bitcoin per day, also makes a big impact, because now you have increasing demand but less supply,” Genoot remarked. Over the past month, Hut 8 shares have surged by 24%, with a 3.5% increase recorded over the last five days. Currently, Hut 8 maintains 9,110 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at approximately $615 million based on the current BTC exchange rate.