U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed a significant net outflow of $145.83 million on Monday, following a weekly outflow of $580 million last week. This downturn in investor sentiment comes amid the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) hawkish stance, which has led to an exodus from riskier assets.
The Outflow Details
- Fidelity’s FBTC, the largest spot bitcoin ETF, shed $92 million on Monday, after reporting around $140 million in net outflows the previous week.
- Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB followed with net outflows of $50 million.
- Grayscale’s GBTC and VanEck’s HODL also recorded negative flows of around $4 million.
- The only net inflows, though minimal, came from Bitwise’s BITB, totaling $3 million.
- BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest spot bitcoin ETF by net asset value, posted zero flows on Monday.
The Impact on the Sector
- The net outflows have brought the cumulative total net inflows of spot bitcoin ETFs down to $14.96 billion, according to SoSoValue’s data.
- Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. had been on a streak of net inflows until last week, when the conflicting U.S. non-farm payroll data and unemployment data led to investor uncertainty and a shift away from riskier assets.
“The more hawkish-than-expected FOMC meeting led investors to reduce their stake in fixed-supply assets,” according to a report from digital asset manager CoinShares.
The Broader Market Implications
- Bitcoin’s price, which had neared $72,000 prior to the release of the U.S. economic numbers, has gradually declined to its current level of $65,490, a 1% drop over the past 24 hours.
- The persistent outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs reflect the broader market sentiment, where investors are becoming more cautious in the face of the Fed’s monetary policy decisions.
As the cryptocurrency industry navigates these market conditions, the performance and flows of spot bitcoin ETFs will continue to be a closely watched indicator of investor sentiment and broader adoption of digital assets.
