On February 23, Grayscale’s GBTC recorded withdrawals amounting to $44.2 million, marking its lowest daily volume since its transition to an ETF. This decline in outflows suggests a slowdown in withdrawal activity from Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust.
BitMEX Research data indicates that GBTC experienced withdrawals of $44.2 million on February 23, the lowest daily volume since its conversion to an exchange-traded fund on January 11. In January, GBTC reported total withdrawals of $5.64 billion, with a notable $640 million withdrawn on January 22 alone. February has seen a decrease in outflows, totaling $1.8 billion so far, bringing the total withdrawals since inception to $7.4 billion.
In contrast, BlackRock’s IBIT has attracted over $6.6 billion in investments since its launch, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with over $4.7 billion. ARK 21Shares holds the third position with inflows of $1.4 billion over the same period.
The significant outflows from GBTC were expected following the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10. This approval allowed GBTC holders to convert and redeem their shares, a process that previously required selling shares on the secondary market.
Analysts suggest that investors have been rebalancing their portfolios and shifting to Bitcoin ETFs with lower fees in recent weeks. GBTC charges a 1.5% annual management fee, while other issuers charge as little as 0.19%.
Additionally, Grayscale’s Bitcoin fund faces another challenge as the bankrupt crypto firm Genesis Global Holdco was granted court permission to sell $1.3 billion worth of GBTC shares to reimburse investors.
Despite significant outflows, Grayscale’s fee structure may offset some losses. ETF Store president Nate Geraci noted that even with a substantial reduction in assets, Grayscale could still outperform other issuers in terms of revenue.