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Bitcoin ETFs in the US have seen more than $2.4 billion in net outflows over February as Bitcoin struggles to maintain a price rally.
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US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen their largest-ever daily net outflows as Bitcoin continues to trade below $90,000.
The 11 Bitcoin (BTC) funds on Feb. 25 together saw a net outflow of $937.9 million in what is their sixth straight trading day of outflows, according to CoinGlass data.
The ETF exodus follows a crypto market rout that’s seen Bitcoin drop by 3.4% over the last day, plunging to a 24-hour low of $86,140 from an intraday high of over $92,000.
The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) led the day’s losses with $344.7 million in outflows — a new record outflow for the ETF. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was runner-up with an outflow of $164.4 million.
The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) lost $88.3 million, while Grayscale’s two funds net lost $151.9 million, split between $66.1 million from its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and $85.8 million from its Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC).
Around $2.4 billion has exited the 11 ETFs so far this month, which has seen just four days of net inflows.
All-time spot Bitcoin ETF flows. Source: CoinGlass
ETF Store President Nate Geraci said in a Feb. 26 X post he was “still amazed at how much TradFi hates Bitcoin and crypto.”
“Huge victory laps at every downturn,” he added. “Hate to break it to you, but no matter how big drawdowns are, it’s not going away.”
Analysts and industry experts such as BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and 10x Research head of research Markus Thielen have said the majority of Bitcoin ETF investors are hedge funds seeking arbitrage yields, not long-term BTC investors.
Related: Bitcoin could be headed for $70K ‘goblin town’ on ETF exodus: Hayes
Hayes predicted on Feb. 24 that BTC would dump to $70,000 on the continued outflow from spot ETFs. Lots of IBIT holders are hedge funds that went long on ETFs while shorting CME futures to earn a yield greater than that from short-term US Treasurys, he explained.
But when that “basis” yield falls with BTC price, these funds will unwind their IBIT positions and buy back CME futures,” he said.
Thielen, whose research on Feb. 24 revealed more than half of spot Bitcoin ETF investors were funds playing the ETF arbitrage game, said the unwinding process is “market-neutral” since it involves selling ETFs while simultaneously buying Bitcoin futures, “effectively offsetting any directional market impact.”
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
