Demand for spot bitcoin ETFs has slowed down in the days ahead of the BTC halving.
The fund category collectively tallied net outflows for a fifth straight day on Thursday — albeit only slightly at about $4 million, according to Farside Investors data.
The five-day net outflow total beginning on April 12 amounts to $319 million, reflecting an average of $64 million over the span. That peaked on Wednesday, when $165 million left the 11-fund sector.
Such an outflow streak has happened just once before, with US spot bitcoin ETFs bleeding assets each day from March 18 to March 22. Those outflows were heavier than the latest active streak, totaling $888 million.
The main culprit driving the net outflows is the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The higher-priced fund, which converted to an ETF in January, has averaged $116 million of net outflows per day over the last five trading days.
Aside from GBTC, only the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) has contributed any meaningful net outflows, seeing $43 million exit the fund on Wednesday. Others meanwhile have watched their inflows completely stop.
Unique to its competitors, the flow-gathering leader in the space, BlackRock, has kept its daily flows positive.
Nine US spot bitcoin ETFs saw zero inflows on both April 12 and April 15, according to Farside Investors data. IBIT’s net inflows were $111 million and $73 million on those days, respectively.
Read more: BlackRock extends bitcoin ETF inflows lead as category demand slows
Still, net inflows into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) hit an all-time low level of $18 million on Wednesday, and about $19 million on Thursday. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) edged IBIT in net flows on Thursday, tallying $37 million.
But the world’s largest asset manager is the only bitcoin ETF issuer to see net inflows each day since starting to trade on Jan. 11.
The streak stands at 68 days after Thursday’s positive total, according to data by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas.
US spot bitcoin ETFs have welcomed about $12.3 billion of net inflows in just over three months on the market — even with $16.7 billion leaving GBTC.
As for the recent outflows, Balchunas added in a separate X post that it is “totally normal for [an] ETF category to cool off after [a] breathtaking pace like this,” particularly during a bitcoin price dip.
Bitcoin’s price dropped below $60,000 on Wednesday, just a few days ahead of the bitcoin halving. A roughly quadrennial event, this halving will result in the number of bitcoins produced per block falling from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. The halving is expected to occur late Friday ET.
One BTC was worth nearly $65,000 just after 7 a.m. ET Friday — down about 7% from a week ago.
