Spot Bitcoin ETFs return to net daily outflows; Grayscale’s GBTC total outflows eclipse $15 billion

Quick Take

  • U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to net outflows on Monday as Grayscale’s GBTC shed another $302.6 million.
  • Ark Invest 21Shares’ ARKB product also witnessed its first-ever daily outflows, with $300,000 leaving the fund.

The combined U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds returned to net outflows on Monday, having recorded net inflows every trading day last week, totaling $860 million.

Inflows of $165.9 million from BlackRock’s dominant IBIT ETF were not enough to help overcome $302.6 million in outflows from Grayscale’s converted GBTC fund, leading to a total net outflow of $85.7 million yesterday, according to CoinGlass data.

Fidelity’s FBTC was second with $44 million worth of inflows on Monday and Invesco’s BTCO was third with $4.2 million. However, Ark Invest 21Shares’s ARKB ETF slumped its first outflows since trading began on Jan. 11 — losing $300,000. The remaining funds saw inflows between zero and $2 million. Total net inflows currently stand at just over $12 billion.

GBTC selling pressure remains elevated as total outflows eclipse $15 billion

Earlier this month, a Coinbase report suggested that Genesis Global Holdco LLC's potential sale of 35.9 million GBTC shares, valued at around $2 billion, might have caused recent GBTC selling pressure.

The drop in outflows from Grayscale’s higher-fee GBTC fund from a peak of $642.5 million on March 18 to $104.9 million on March 28 led some analysts to believe this selling pressure was slowing down. Yesterday’s outflows represent a jump back above its daily average of $274 million. However, markets were closed on Good Friday which could have impacted Monday's figure.

“$302.6 million outflow for GBTC today — honestly higher than I expected,” Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote yesterday. “I thought this would have slowed down by now.”

Monday’s figure takes GBTC’s total outflows past $15 billion since trading began on Jan. 11. In bitcoin terms, the converted fund has dropped 46% from around 619,000 BTC to 333,619 BTC ($22 billion) over the period, per CoinGlass.

BlackRock’s IBIT has accumulated the most bitcoin under management at over 252,000 BTC ($17 billion). Fidelity’s FBTC has amassed more than 144,000 BTC ($10 billion).

Spot Bitcoin ETF trading volumes continue to slide

The U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs generated $3.03 billion in trading volume on Monday, again led by BlackRock’s IBIT, which registered $1.37 billion. Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC generated $806 million and $556 million, respectively, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

However, daily trading volumes have consistently declined since a peak of $9.93 billion on March 5, when bitcoin first broke past its prior cycle’s all-time high of around $69,000.

Cumulative trading volume for all spot bitcoin ETFs now stands at $184.6 billion.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,007 — down 4.5% over the last 24 hours, having begun trading above $71,000 yesterday, according to The Block’s price page. Meanwhile, the GMCI 30 index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, fell 5.4% to 144.80 in the past 24 hours.

BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.

The market volatility saw over $135 million of bitcoin positions liquidated during the past 24 hours, $93 million of which were long positions, according to CoinGlass data.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

James Hunt is a reporter at The Block and writer of The Daily newsletter, keeping you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. James’ coverage spans everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Layer 2 scaling solutions, avant-garde DeFi protocols, evolving DAO governance structures, trending NFTs and memecoins, regulatory landscapes, crypto company deals and the latest market updates. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or 𝕏 via @humanjets or email him at [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Vishal Chawla at
[email protected]