BlackRock’s Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) stood out in the United States market on Monday, as it was the sole spot Bitcoin fund to register inflows. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded net inflows of $73.4 million on April 15, though this marked a decline from the previous day’s $111.1 million.
In contrast, eight other ETFs, apart from Grayscale’s offering, reported no inflows during the same period. Despite the positive inflows into IBIT, they were overshadowed by significant outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which saw $110.1 million exiting on April 15, down from $166.2 million the day before.
Between April 12 and 15, the collective net outflows from the ten spot Bitcoin ETFs amounted to $55.1 million and $36.7 million, respectively.
These movements occurred amidst a volatile period for Bitcoin, which experienced a 10% drop in value to around $63,498. This downturn was triggered by market instability following a retaliatory attack from Iran on Israel on April 13.
CoinShares’ research head, James Butterfill, noted withdrawals of $110 million from global Bitcoin investment products in the week ending April 12, indicating investor hesitancy. Overall, crypto investment products saw a net outflow of $126 million during that week, with weekly volumes increasing from $17 billion to $21 billion.
With Bitcoin’s halving scheduled for April 20 — reducing its issuance by half — traders are assessing potential price implications, contributing to market volatility.
Additionally, while Hong Kong approved several Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on Monday, industry experts remain cautious about their potential impact due to factors such as the local ETF market’s modest size, lack of prominent issuers, low liquidity, and high fees.
Looking ahead, a significant outflow of Bitcoin from miners is anticipated post-halving. Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, estimates that miners may liquidate around $5 billion in BTC following the event, potentially leading to sideways price fluctuations for four to six months, similar to previous halving cycles.