Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had another strong week, with net inflows surpassing $2.2 billion between Feb. 12 and Feb. 16. According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, the combined volume was higher than inflows received by any other among the 3,400 ETFs available in the United States.
BlackRock’s fund IBIT received the majority of capital, amassing positive flows of $1.6 billion over the past week, as revealed by data from BitMEX Research. “$IBIT alone has taken in $5.2b YTD, which is 50% of BlackRock’s total net ETF flows, out of 417 ETFs,” noted Balchunas.
Among the Bitcoin funds holding billions of dollars in assets, Fidelity’s FBTC has seen significant inflows, attracting $648.5 million over the last five trading sessions. Ark 21Shares’ ARKB has garnered $405 million during the same period, while Bitwise’s BITB has drawn $232.1 million in capital.
Outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC are hampering the ETFs’ combined performance. The fund has experienced $624 million in withdrawals over the past days, as investors continue to sell shares and move to other products with lower fees. Since its conversion from an over-the-counter product to an ETF on Jan. 10, Grayscale’s fund has seen over $7 billion drain in capital.
The new ETFs are believed to be one of the factors driving Bitcoin’s recent price gains. The cryptocurrency is up 91% over the past four months, supported by market sentiment surrounding the funds’ approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month.
Over the week, Bitcoin gained nearly 7% and is trading at $51,434 at the time of writing, climbing 24% in February.
Major banks and financial institutions are also taking notice of the new ETFs. In a Feb. 14 letter, a trade group coalition representing Wall Street’s biggest firms requested the SEC to consider modifications to the Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121), which provides guidance around accounting for crypto asset custody obligations. The revision would allow banks to act as custodians of the BTC funds.
