BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF draws $73m amid sluggish market

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF was the only spot Bitcoin fund in the United States to record inflows on Monday, setting it apart from other ETFs that reported no inflows or experienced outflows.

According to data from Farside Investors, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded net inflows of $73.4 million on April 15, albeit a decrease from the $111.1 million observed the previous day.

This contrasted sharply with the other eight ETFs, which, aside from Grayscale’s offering, reported no inflows during the same period.

The inflows into IBIT were unable to counterbalance the significant outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which saw $110.1 million leave on April 15, reducing from the $166.2 million outflows recorded on April 14.

Overall, between April 12 and 15, the ten spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively witnessed net outflows of $55.1 million and $36.7 million, respectively.

These recent outflows occurred during a volatile week for Bitcoin, which saw its value drop by 10% to approximately $63,498. The downturn followed market instability triggered by a retaliatory attack from Iran on Israel on April 13.

Meanwhile, worldwide Bitcoin investment products experienced withdrawals of $110 million in the week ending April 12, according to CoinShares’ research head James Butterfill, highlighting “hesitancy amongst investors.”

Butterfill said that all combined crypto investment products witnessed a net outflow of $126 million last week, while week-on-week volumes increased from $17 billion to $21 billion.

Bitcoin’s scheduled halving on April 20 ᅳ in which its issuance is reduced in half ᅳ is also producing price volatility as traders assess how it may effect Bitcoin’s price action.

As earlier reported by crypto.news, Hong Kong approved several Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on Monday. While the Bitcoin community viewed this as a very positive development, Balchunas was quick to dismiss these products as having little significance.

“Don’t expect a lot of flows (I saw one estimate of $25b that’s insane). We think they’ll be lucky to get $500m,” he said.

He cited the modest size of the local ETF market, the lack of well-known issuers, relatively low liquidity, and expensive fees as the primary reasons why these products are unlikely to draw considerable inflows.

Meanwhile, a significant outflow of Bitcoin from miners could be expected in the months following the upcoming halving.

In a recent report, Markus Thielen, the head of research at 10x Research, estimated that Bitcoin miners might liquidate around $5 billion in BTC following the halving.

Thielen also stated that the selling pressure from miners might last for four to six months, resulting in a potential sideways fluctuation in Bitcoin’s price during that time, similar to what has occurred in previous halving cycles.