The recently introduced spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) face simultaneous negative flows. Since their initiation on January 11, these funds have encountered a unique challenge as investments in BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC have failed to match the pace of exits from Grayscale’s GBTC.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart posted a net outflow of $158 million daily across the 10 spot bitcoin ETFs, including GBTC. Compiled data reveals a decline in total bitcoin held by these ETFs from 660,000 to 649,000 in just a week, reflecting a reduction of approximately 11,000 tokens.
The sole fund experiencing negative flows over the week is Grayscale’s GBTC, witnessing a decrease in total bitcoin from 592,098 to 523,516.
Despite the collective outflows, two funds, BlackRock’s IBIT, and Fidelity’s FBTC, stand out by holding more than 40,000 bitcoins each as of January 24.
This marks a substantial increase from 20,000-25,000 bitcoin held just a week prior. Additionally, both funds are approaching $2 billion in assets under management.
While BlackRock and Fidelity have led, the inflows into these funds have decelerated in the past few days. For instance, BlackRock’s daily addition on January 24 was 1,663 tokens, marking its weakest daily performance since inception and a notable decline from 8,705 on January 17.
Despite the recent slowdown, the net inflows since the launch of the 10 spot ETFs on January 11 remain substantial. Eric Balchunas estimates a total dollar inflow of $824 million, equating to a net bitcoin addition of about 17,000-20,000 tokens.
In the evolving landscape of bitcoin ETFs, this recent development raises questions about investor sentiments and the dynamic competition among these emerging investment vehicles.
Also Read: Spot BTC ETF is Among Biggest Wall Street Developments: Saylor
