The U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced $71.73 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the third consecutive day of declines. BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest BTC ETF, recorded its first net outflows since May 1, with $13.51 million exiting the fund. Other major Bitcoin ETFs such as Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC also saw outflows, while Ark and 21Shares’ ARKB managed to buck the trend with net inflows of $5.34 million. Overall, trading volumes for the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs dropped to $1.64 billion on Thursday.
Spot Ethereum ETFs also mirrored the negative sentiment, with $1.77 million in net outflows on Thursday. The Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) led the outflows with $5.35 million, but this was partially offset by net inflows of $3.57 million into the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH). Despite this, total trading volume for the nine spot Ethereum ETFs fell to $95.91 million on Thursday. The outflows in ETH ETFs came as both Bitcoin and Ethereum prices saw slight declines. Bitcoin edged down 0.3% to around $58,984, while Ethereum slipped 0.29% to approximately $2,516.
According to a JPMorgan research report released on Wednesday, Ether spot ETFs have struggled with net outflows since their U.S. launch last month, unlike spot Bitcoin ETFs. In the first five weeks following each launch, Ether ETFs saw around $500 million in net outflows, while Bitcoin ETFs had inflows exceeding $5 billion. The analysts at JPMorgan attributed the weak performance of Ether ETFs to Bitcoin’s “first mover advantage,” the absence of staking options, and lower liquidity making Ether ETFs less attractive to institutional investors. The report also highlighted the $2.5 billion in outflows from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE).
The report also mentioned that institutional and retail ownership of spot Bitcoin ETFs remained largely unchanged from the first quarter, with retail investors holding about 80%. To combat the outflows from ETHE, Grayscale introduced a mini Ether ETF, which only attracted $200 million in inflows. JPMorgan’s team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou suggested that the weaker demand for Ether ETFs compared to Bitcoin is causing increased interest in a combined ETF offering exposure to both assets. The report noted that Ether ETFs began trading on July 23, around six months after the launch of Bitcoin funds, and have struggled to attract inflows compared to their Bitcoin counterparts.
