This week witnessed significant turbulence in the Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) market, with total net outflows nearing $900 million. Moreover, this coincides with the pullback in the Bitcoin (BTC) price and the crypto market crash. The major contributor to these outflows was the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF (GBTC), which saw staggering outflows totaling $14 billion since its January 2024 launch.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Register Outflows For The Entire Week
The Bitcoin ETFs recorded over $888 million outflows in the current week. On Friday, March 22, Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a substantial net outflow of $51.6 million, while GBTC alone recorded a single-day outflow of $169 million. In contrast, BlackRock’s ETF (IBIT) observed minimal net inflows, mitigating some of the negative impact.
Despite Bitcoin’s price facing pressure, currently trading at $64,051 with a market cap of $1.259 trillion, analyst Michael van de Poppe sees BlackRock’s consistent inflows into Spot Bitcoin ETFs as a positive sign of ongoing institutional buying activity, suggesting the market cycle is far from over.
GBTC’s persistent outflows continue to dent the Bitcoin ETF market, with Thursday, March 21, marking another substantial outflow of $359 million, totaling $1.8 billion for the week. Moreover, Bitcoin ETF outflows accelerated, reaching $95 million on March 21 and $261 million on March 20, summing up to $742 million over three days.
While GBTC faced a notable single-day outflow of $386 million on Wednesday, March 20, IBIT saw a significant inflow of $49.28 million, lifting its total historical net inflow to $13.09 billion. However, concerns over central bank actions have led to drying up of ETF inflows this week.
With Bitcoin ETFs experiencing consecutive days of outflows, totaling $326 million on Tuesday, March 19, market sentiment appears to be shifting. Institutional investors seemed cautious ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision on March 20, which reflected in subdued inflows across most ETFs.
GBTC’s woes persisted with a massive $444 million outflow on Tuesday, exacerbating its losses. On the contrary, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF regained momentum on Monday, March 18, recording $451.5 million inflows, contrasting with minimal inflows for other ETFs.
Also Read: Five Days of Bitcoin ETF Outflows But BTC Price Shows Reversal Signs
BTC Price Experiences Volatility
Bitcoin recently recorded major pullback after attaining a new all-time high of $73,836 earlier this month. The BTC price slumped lower than $61,000 and rebounded back above $67,000 amid increased volatility. However, the Bitcoin price plunged to the $65,000 level again despite the rebound.
At press time, the BTC price was up by 2.68% to $65,302.84 on Friday, March 23. Meanwhile, the oldest crypto held a gigantic market capitalization of $1.28 billion. In contrast, the 24-hour trade volume plummeted 33.58% to $27.82 billion.
The recent recovery in Bitcoin’s value has been met by short squeeze. Nearly $30.68 million short liquidations were noted for BTC out of $48.31 million total liquidations, according to Coinglass. These short traders are expected to buy back their positions to mitigate potential losses. Moreover, this move could send the Bitcoin price higher momentarily, accompanied with a massive correction later.
Whilst, the crypto market as a whole also suffered a crash. The Ethereum (ETH) price crashed below $3,200 from its recent high of $4092. In addition, Solana (SOL) slumped lower than $180 despite surging past $200 earlier this month.
Also Read: Bitcoin Halving History Chart Analysed
