BlackRock Bitcoin ETF faces its worst day
The company's fund recorded record outflows
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), BlackRock's spot Bitcoin fund, recorded a net outflow of $332.6 million on Thursday, marking its largest single-day outflow since its launch last year.
According to The Block, the previous record outflow of $188.7 million occurred on Christmas Eve. On Thursday, IBIT reported a trading volume of $2.26 billion.
“Portfolio rebalancing is a common practice among institutional investors to achieve asset allocation goals,” stated Neal Wen, Head of Global Business Development at Kronos Research. “The significant outflows from BlackRock's IBIT may reflect such adjustments, likely driven by Bitcoin’s price dynamics or broader market conditions.”
In recent weeks, BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF has seen slower inflows compared to the substantial inflows recorded earlier in December when Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $108,135. Despite this, IBIT remains the largest spot Bitcoin ETF, with cumulative net inflows of $36.9 billion and net assets nearing $53.5 billion.
Performance of other ETFs
On Thursday, other spot Bitcoin ETFs showed moderate inflows. Bitwise’s BITB attracted $48.3 million, while Fidelity’s FBTC received $36.2 million. ARKB from Ark Invest and 21Shares, VanEck’s HODL, and Grayscale Mini Bitcoin Trust also reported positive net inflows.
However, Grayscale’s GBTC recorded an outflow of $23.1 million. Overall, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a net outflow of $242.3 million on Thursday, with a total trading volume of $3.24 billion.
U.S. Ethereum ETFs also experienced net outflows on Thursday, amounting to $77.5 million. The largest outflow came from Bitwise’s ETHW, which saw $56.1 million withdrawn, while Grayscale’s ETHE fund lost $21.4 million.
The total trading volume for Ethereum ETFs increased to $397.2 million, up from $313.1 million on December 31. Cumulative net inflows for these funds now stand at $2.58 billion.
Despite these outflows, cryptocurrency funds have dominated the ETF market in 2024, with eight of the top spots by net inflows among the 740 new ETFs launched this year.
