Bitcoin ETF snapshot: Outflows follow hawkish FOMC meeting

The Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged likely prompted investors to scale back exposure to fixed-supply assets, CoinShares research head says

by Ben Strack /

June 17, 2024 11:10 am

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Hundreds of millions of investor assets exited bitcoin ETFs last week amid concerns over potential monetary policy shifts and a more hawkish-than-expected stance from the Federal Open Market Committee.

It marked the highest weekly outflow total for the segment in about three months.

Ten US spot bitcoin ETFs collectively bled roughly $580 million from June 10 to June 14, according to Farside Investors data.

This was a stark reversal from the week before — when the funds brought in more than $1.8 billion. The $887 million of inflows the category saw on June 4 alone was the second-highest total in a single day since the US bitcoin ETFs launched in January. The net money reeled in on that week’s last day, June 7, marked a record 19 straight trading days of inflows.

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While the BTC funds saw $101 million flow in on June 12, last week’s other four days were in the red — peaking at $226 million on June 13.

That was a day after the Federal Reserve chose to hold interest rates steady, even after the European Central Bank and The Bank of Canada lowered rates the week before. A number of economists expect the Fed could cut rates at its Sept. 18 meeting.

The heavy bitcoin ETF outflows were “likely due to a more-hawkish-than-expected FOMC meeting, prompting investors to scale back their exposure to fixed-supply assets,” CoinShares research head James Butterfill said in a Monday report.

Bitcoin was trading at $65,500 at 10:30 a.m. ET — down 6% from a week ago.

The $580 million of outflows in one week was the highest since these spot bitcoin ETFs hemorrhaged a combined $888 million from March 18 to March 22.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) led the segment in outflows last week, with $274 million. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (BTC) and the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) saw outflows totaling $146 million and $150 million, respectively.

Positive flows continued to trickle into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from June 10 to June 14, as the fund welcomed $42 million of new money.

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