Bitcoin ETFs had an impressive week with significant net inflows surpassing $2.2 billion from Feb. 12–16, outpacing inflows received by any other among the 3,400 ETFs available in the United States, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust Leads Inflows with Fidelity and Ark Bitcoin ETFs See Significant Inflows
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) dominated the scene, attracting positive flows of $1.6 billion over the week, according to data from BitMEX Research. Notably, $IBIT alone has taken in $5.2 billion year-to-date, representing 50% of BlackRock’s total net ETF flows out of 417 ETFs.
Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund saw substantial inflows, attracting $648.5 million over the last five trading sessions. Similarly, the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF garnered $405 million, while the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF pulled $232.1 million in capital inflows during the same period.
However, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust witnessed outflows, hampering the overall performance of the newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. The fund experienced $624 million in withdrawals from Feb. 12–16, continuing the trend of investor sell-offs. Since its conversion to a spot ETF on Jan. 10, Grayscale’s fund has seen over $7 billion in capital outflows.
Major banks and financial institutions are also paying attention to the new ETFs. In a Feb. 14 letter, a trade group coalition representing Wall Street’s biggest firms urged the SEC to consider modifications to the Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, aiming to allow banks to act as custodians of BTC funds.
Impact on Bitcoin’s Price
The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan. 10 is believed to be one of the driving factors behind Bitcoin’s recent price gains. The cryptocurrency has surged 91% in the past four months, reflecting positive market sentiment.
During the week, Bitcoin gained nearly 7%, reaching $51,434 at the time of writing and showing a 24% increase in February.
