Institutional Demand for Bitcoin Remains Weak: Glassnode

The Purpose Exchange-Traded Fund, one of the first approved bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs), has seen a slowdown in net inflows this week after experiencing a period of relatively strong demand in May and June, according to a report by Glassnode.

“The week closed with the largest net outflow of -90.76 BTC since mid-May,” said the report.

The slowdown suggests institutional demand for the largest currency by market cap remains weak across these regulated products, according to Glassnode.

The bitcoin price fell early Tuesday below the crucial support level of $30,000 for the first time in four weeks. As of press time, bitcoin was trading around $29,960.

While data tracked by Glassnode shows weak institutional demand, the situation is somewhat encouraging in Europe.

“This is only $3 million of outflows," said Laurent Kssis, managing director of ETPs at 21Shares AG. "In Europe, some ETP bitcoin have seen larger outflows in one day.”

Also contributing to the bearish case for bitcoin is the performance of the Grayscale (GBTC) bitcoin trust share price. The GBTC shares continued to trade last week at a notable discount to the fund's net asset value, ranging between 11% and down to 15.3%, demonstrating lackluster demand for the cryptocurrency, according to Glassnode.

Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk parent Digital Currency Group.

Read more: Bitcoin Drops Below $30K for First Time in 4 Weeks