Bitcoin ETFs Witness Record Outflows as Market Volatility Intensifies

On March 19, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a significant collective outflow of $326 million, marking their largest day of outflows on record. Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) alone reported assets under management of over $23.7 billion as of the same date. However, if outflows persist at the current rate, GBTC could deplete its assets as early as late July. On that day, GBTC saw net outflows of $443.5 million, with only BlackRock, Fidelity, and Bitwise's ETFs recording net inflows, according to data from Farside Investors.

Combined, these three funds attracted $117.3 million in net inflows, representing the second-lowest inflow day for the nine new Bitcoin ETFs excluding GBTC. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the day with net inflows of $75.2 million, followed by Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) with $39.6 million. Conversely, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) experienced its lowest net inflows day on record, attracting just $2.5 million, excluding days with zero inflows.

These ETF outflows surpassed the previous record outflow day of $158.3 million on Jan. 24, marking the second consecutive day of net outflows for the funds. The substantial outflows coincided with a drop in the price of BTC, which fell to $62,400 on March 19 during U.S. trading hours, following its recent all-time high of $73,835 on March 14. As of the latest data, Bitcoin has fallen by 5.4% in the past 24 hours, trading at $61,173, slightly above its intraday low of $60,872.

March 18 also witnessed GBTC's largest net outflow day of $642.5 million. Since Jan. 11, when it transitioned from a trust to an ETF, the fund has seen nearly $12.9 billion in outflows over 49 trading days.