In August, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a net outflow of approximately $94 million, despite a positive streak of eight days earlier in the month. Data from SoSoValue reveals that spot Bitcoin ETFs had their best day on August 23, with over $250 million in net inflows. However, this positive momentum was not enough to counterbalance the $237 million lost on August 2, the worst day for these funds in August. The total net assets held by all commercially available Bitcoin funds decreased by $4.24 billion by the end of August, totaling around $53.8 billion. The industry leader BlackRock’s IBIT fund recorded its first outflows since May, contributing to the overall negative monthly performance. On the final trading day of the month, several funds reported zero net inflows, with Grayscale’s GBTC seeing the largest outflow of $70 million.
On the Ethereum side, spot Ether ETFs faced challenges as well. Despite logging over $1 billion in trading volume during their initial days on the market in July, these funds have seen a steady decline in activity, with a total cumulative net outflow of $477.25 million reported by the end of August. These funds held nearly $7 billion in assets, with Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH funds totaling $5.4 billion of that amount. BlackRock’s ETHA and other funds experienced a weekly outflow of $12.6 million across all spot ether ETFs. According to a JPMorgan research report, Ether spot ETFs have struggled with net outflows since their U.S. launch last month, unlike spot Bitcoin ETFs. Ether ETFs have faced challenges due to factors such as Bitcoin’s “first mover advantage,” the absence of staking options, and lower liquidity that made them less attractive to institutional investors.
The JPMorgan report also highlighted that Ether ETFs saw around $500 million in net outflows in the first five weeks after their launch, in contrast to the significant inflows exceeding $5 billion seen by Bitcoin ETFs. Additionally, the report attributed the weak performance of Ether ETFs to various factors such as Bitcoin’s advantage, the lack of staking options, and lower liquidity. Despite expectations of about $1 billion in outflows from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) following its transition to a spot ETF, the fund experienced $2.5 billion in outflows. To address these outflows, Grayscale introduced a mini ether ETF, which attracted $200 million in inflows. This unexpected outflow from ETHE contributed to the challenges faced by Ether spot ETFs.
On the last trading day of August, spot Ether ETFs recorded no significant inflows or outflows, with the total net inflow and outflow being $0.00. This marked the first time in 30 trading days since the launch of Ethereum Spot ETF that the inflow and outflow were both zero. It was reported that spot Ether ETFs have struggled with net outflows since their launch in the U.S. last month, in contrast to the positive performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Despite an initial trading volume of over $1 billion in July, spot Ether ETFs have seen a decline in activity, with a total cumulative net outflow of $477.25 million by the end of August. Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH funds accounted for $5.4 billion of the total assets held by spot Ether ETFs, while BlackRock’s ETHA and other funds experienced weekly outflows amounting to $12.6 million across all spot ether ETFs.
