Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) price experienced a decline. As a result, American Bitcoin ETFs didn’t have the best week either. The funds experienced significant outflows. This is according to Events from BitMEX Research.
Since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs, the funds have repeatedly broken records. Almost all positive milestones. Bitcoin funds also made history last week. Unfortunately not in a positive sense. Bitcoin ETFs recorded five consecutive days of net outflow.
Not a best week for Bitcoin ETFs
Total combined outflows from Bitcoin ETFs reached $888 million last week. These outflows were led by heavy outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC ETF on Monday.
The five-day outflow streak is a record for Bitcoin ETFs. Outflows have already been recorded for four days in a row in January.
In addition to the high outflows, which are almost exclusively due to GBTC, the inflows from the other ETFs were also nothing special. The most popular Bitcoin ETF, Blackrock’s IBIT, recorded its lowest daily inflow ever on Wednesday: $49.3 million. This was easily repeated on Friday with an inflow of just $18.9 million.
Fidelity’s FBTC exchange fund recorded its lowest inflow since inception on Thursday. The inflow was $2.9 million.
What causes the drain?
The drains are no surprise. These correlate with the falling price of Bitcoin. But according to ETF expert Eric Balchunas, there is another reason. The investment fund Genesis sold its GBTC shares and used the proceeds to buy Bitcoin.
Despite the high outflows, ETF trading volumes were high. To be precise, slightly lower than the last few weeks. The total volume of all Bitcoin ETFs combined was about $22 billion last week. This brings the total volume since the ETFs were introduced in January to a total of $166 billion.
Overall, the outflow from ETFs is therefore not a cause for concern. The outflow is understandable given last week’s Bitcoin correction. Additionally, a large portion of GBTC outflow is due to Genesis sales.