Fidelity’s $48.7M Bitcoin Buy Fuels Institutional Wave as BTC Holds Above $111K

• Fidelity bought the 444.30 BTC, worth $48.7m, as part of a string of large crypto purchases this year.
• BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, among other institutional investors, are quickly accelerating Bitcoin exposure through ETFs and direct buys.
• Strong ETF inflows, low exchange deposits and record open interest support bullish sentiment for Bitcoin as it stays above $110,000.

Fidelity Investments has expanded its Bitcoin exposure with the purchase of 444.30 BTC worth approximately $48.7 million, according to Whale Insider. The acquisition marks for an asset manager a series of high-value purchases in 2025 as institutions develop confidence in Bitcoin.

On May 10, Fidelity bought 437 BTC for $45 million. But a week later, on May 17, the firm bought another $70 million worth of BTC. Then, on May 20, the company upped its commitment further still with a $188 million investment. Fidelity’s transactions make it among the most aggressive institutional buyers of Bitcoin this year.

The spree in buying comes as the digital asset maintains strength in price and on-chain activity. At press time, Bitcoin is still firmly above $111,000, trading at $111,188 with a market cap of $2.2 trillion and more than $57 billion in daily trading volume.

ETF Flows and Whale Activity Support Bullish Momentum

Fidelity is not alone. Japanese firm Metaplanet has also joined the Bitcoin accumulation party. The company bought another 1,004 BTC worth $104 million, bringing its total to 7,800 BTC worth about $812 million.

Recently, BlackRock purchased a total of 682 BTC worth $69 million and a second investment of $69 million. Following Wednesday’s $530.6m rise, the firm has now seen 18 consecutive days of net inflows into its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

BlackRock’s IBIT recently became the largest owner of Goldman Sachs, disclosing a $1.65 billion Bitcoin- related ETF. IBIT holds 30.8 million shares of the firm and 3.47 million shares of Fidelity’s FBTC.

Across the board, U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $609 million in a single day, the 6th straight session of inflows. Net inflows in May alone amounted to $4.24 billion, taking the cumulative net inflows to $43.38 billion. On Wednesday, trading volume was $7.64 billion among the 12 spot ETFs that remain active, the most since February.

This strong demand is attracting the renewed confidence of market participants. Inflows are also consistent on a wide range of issuers such as Bitwise, VanEck, Ark & 21Shares and Valkyrie, according to trading data.

Liquidity Signals and On-Chain Metrics Align

There’s more bullish strength on the data onchain. The market appears to be gaining interest as BTC futures open interest hits an all time high of over $80 billion, according to CoinGlass. Typically, a spike in open interest indicates new capital is coming into the market, and the price will likely grow.

Bitcoin exchange inflows have crashed to 22,000 BTC in the last 24 hours, down from 121,000 in November. This is also supported by a decline in exchange deposits with reduced sell-side pressure. However, data from CryptoQuant revealed that individual deposit transactions have decreased from 98,000 to only 29,000.

Inflows to exchanges of USDT hit a record $46.9 billion, further enhancing liquidity and the buying potential. This is a flow of stablecoins into the system, meaning capital is being assembled into crypto assets such as Bitcoin.