New Bitcoin ETFs See Record Daily Flows As Total BTC Holdings Rise to $3 Billion

Newly launched Bitcoin spot ETFs saw their highest daily flows on their fourth day of trading, absorbing $913.6 million on Wednesday.

The wave of capital brings assets under management for all such funds that began trading last week up to $2.9 billion.

Both figures – provided by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas – exclude flows related to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) – the largest and most highly traded of all Bitcoin ETFs.

The fund merely converted into an ETF on January 11, having already accumulated over 600,000 BTC years in advance.

Since converting, the fund has suffered consistent outflows as investors cash in on long-held BTC, or rotate into newer, cheaper Bitcoin ETFs provided by BlackRock, Fidelity, and others.

On Wednesday, Grayscale experienced $450.6 million in outflows, bringing its net outflows up to $1.6 billion since ETF conversion. Across the board, net flows to all ETFs have amounted to $1.2 billion.

The first day of launch remains the number one day for Bitcoin ETF inflows when including GBTC ($625.8 million) – though this includes seed capital, such as Bitwise’s initial $200 million contribution.

As Balchunas wrote to X on Thursday:

“ETFs have been making money from high-cost mutual funds for decades now. The ‘Nine’ gonna steal from more than GBTC too. Anything high cost is vulnerable now.”

Flows From Rival Bitcoin ETF

Indeed, similar Bitcoin funds/investment products have suffered in the wake of the launch.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) – the Bitcoin futures ETF launched in October 2021 – has seen its assets under management dwindle from $2.28 billion before the spot ETF approvals to $1.86 billion as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy – the world’s largest corporate holder of BTC – has plummeted 25% to $500 since last Thursday after rallying to almost $700 at the start of the year. Bitcoin mining firms like CleanSpark (CLSK) have also suffered corrections of over 30%.

Bitcoin itself has fallen roughly 11% to $41,250 since last week. In fact, shares of the newly launched ETFs, like the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), are yet to register a single day in the green.

Bitcoin ETFs are still working on getting their first green daily candle 😅 pic.twitter.com/bbjRhTg9vD

— Pledditor (@Pledditor) January 18, 2024

Coinbase (COIN) – which serves as Bitcoin custodian for most of the ETF providers – has also fallen 19% year to date.