Bitcoin ETF snapshot: A few firsts during another week of outflows

Demand for the US spot bitcoin ETFs remains at a standstill following an initial surge of significant investment inflows.

The country’s ETF category, which comprises 11 funds, saw net outflows hit $328 million last week, according to Farside Investors data.

It marked the third straight week of net outflows for the segment, as Grayscale’s bitcoin ETF continues to be the driver of that fate. Net money flowing out of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) totaled $454 million from April 22 to April 26, the data shows.

The difference in recent weeks has been the fastest-growing funds in the space seeing demand stop altogether, or going negative, on certain days.

The 71-day net inflow streak for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ended Wednesday before the fund again saw $0 worth of flows on Thursday and Friday.

Fidelity Investments’ Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which also notched several neutral flow days, saw its first days of net outflows on Thursday and Friday — at $23 million and $3 million, respectively.

Given the slowdown for the BlackRock and Fidelity products, combined net inflows for Grayscale’s competitors fell to $126 million last week — a total unable to fully make up for GBTC’s hemorrhaging.

Many have followed bitcoin ETF flows in recent months as a sort of barometer for broader sentiment in the space. The pace at which these funds had been buying bitcoin for weeks exceeded that at which new BTC was being issued — contributing to a new all-time high for bitcoin last month.

Last week’s $328 million of US spot bitcoin ETF outflows was a bit more severe than the prior two weeks. Overall, $204 million in assets had left the sector during the week prior to last, while net investor money exiting the funds totaled $83 million from April 8 to April 12.

Trading volumes for crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) more broadly fell to $11.8 billion last week, according to CoinShares data — down from about $18 billion during the prior week.

Bitcoin’s price (BTC) stood at about $62,200 on Monday mid-morning ET — down roughly 4% from seven days ago.

Christopher Jensen, director of crypto research at bitcoin ETF issuer Franklin Templeton, told Blockworks he was unconcerned about the recent bitcoin fund outflows.

“There are lots of platforms, there are lots of institutions that are interested and are doing work,” he said. “So we don’t think the flows for the ETPs are done even though they’ve cooled off in recent weeks.”

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