Advertisement
Grayscale ETF Outflows Slow Down, as BlackRock’s IBIT Takes in $15 Billion in Cash
- The launch of US Spot Bitcoin ETFs has significantly outperformed others marking an impressive beginning.
- Grayscale faces outflows post-Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals and FTX bankruptcy settlements, but sees a move towards ‘equilibrium’, per CEO Sonnenshein.
- BlackRock’s IBIT leads the new ETFs with a 50% surge and US$15b inflows in three months, doubling BlackRock’s other ETFs’ performance and boosting Bitcoin’s tradFi presence.
To say the launch of the United States Spot Bitcoin ETFs has been a success would be an understatement. The nine, as Bloomberg’s analysts have named them – which excludes Grayscale’s conversion of its GBTC trust fund into an ETF – have seen some of the best early performances of any ETF in the US.
Grayscale’s ETF had seen a lot of outflows after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals in January, due to high fees compared to its newly created counterparts. Additionally, some outflows occurred as part of the FTX bankruptcy settlements.
Related: Bitcoin’s Halving Hustle and SEC’s Uniswap Curveball: Your Weekly Crypto Digest
Outflows To Reach ‘Equilibrium’ Soon
Speaking to Reuters, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein mentioned that the outflows have now begun to stabilise.
Over the past three months, more than US$15 billion (AU$23 billion) has been withdrawn from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), BitMEX Research revealed. Despite this, the rise in Bitcoin’s price has meant that the total value of Grayscale’s managed assets has only marginally decreased to US$23.13 billion (AU$35.44 billion).
We do believe that the fund has started to reach a little bit of an equilibrium where some of those anticipated outflows, whether it was some of the bankruptcy selling, some investors perhaps undertaking switch trades, [are] largely behind us.
Michael Sonnenshein, Grayscale CEO IBIT Reaches Record Volume, Features on Bloomberg Homepage
Meanwhile, the top dog among new Spot Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s IBIT has reached staggering inflows.
As Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas comments on IBIT’s exceptional performance: IBIT has surged by more than 50% and attracted US$15 billion in new investments within three months he said in a post, adding it outpaced all other BlackRock ETFs, of which there are 421, by double.
And, additionally, BlackRock has also doubled down on marketing, with an IBIT advertisement featuring on the Bloomberg homepage. The ad, which Balchunas calls “Times Square sized” is a stunt that will no doubt help to spread the word about Bitcoin, cementing its foothold in the tradFi space.
Get the most important crypto news delivered to your inbox by subscribing to the CNA newsletter
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
