The group of recently launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is facing collective negative flows for the first time since their debut on January 11. This development is attributed to reduced inflows for funds like BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, failing to offset the continuous outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart reported a net outflow of $158 million across the 10 spot bitcoin ETFs, including GBTC, on Wednesday. Day-to-day fluctuations are common, and data from issuers’ websites, compiled by CoinDesk, revealed a decline in total bitcoin held by all spot ETFs from over 660,000 to about 649,000 as of January 24.
GBTC experienced the only actual negative flows during the week, witnessing a decline in total bitcoin in trust from 592,098 to 523,516. On the other hand, BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC emerged as leaders among the remaining nine funds, each holding more than 40,000 bitcoin as of January 24, compared to 20,000-25,000 a week earlier. Both funds are also nearing $2 billion in assets under management.
Despite the overall downturn in inflows, the net inflows since the launch of the 10 spot ETFs on January 11 remain substantial. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas calculated total dollar inflows at $824 million, translating into a net addition of approximately 17,000-20,000 bitcoins.
The fluctuations in flows indicate the dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency market, with investor sentiments and fund preferences influencing the trajectory of Bitcoin ETFs.
