en
Back to the list

Bitcoin ETF snapshot: GBTC competitors surpass Grayscale fund in AUM

source-logo  blockworks.co 11 March 2024 13:31, UTC

US spot bitcoin ETFs nearly equaled the weekly net inflow record the products set last month as BTC’s price reached new highs.

As the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) continues to see daily net outflows, its nine competitors have now collectively surpassed GBTC in assets under management.

The 10-fund US spot bitcoin ETF category brought in $2.24 billion last week, according to BitMEX Research data.

This total all but matched the combined $2.27 billion of net money entering the funds from Feb. 12 to Feb. 16.

The near-record weekly net inflows for the segment came amid a week during which bitcoin hit record levels on two occasions. BTC’s price reached a new record just above $69,000 on March 5 before surpassing $70,000 for the first time on Friday.

BTC climbed to roughly $71,800 on Monday morning, according to CoinGecko data.

Net inflows into the bitcoin ETFs now stand at roughly $9.6 billion, BitMEX Research data shows — even with GBTC’s net outflow total amounting to about $10.5 billion.

Unlike the other spot bitcoin funds, GBTC operated as a trust for years prior to its conversion to an ETF. While the Grayscale fund’s assets under management were at $27.4 billion on market close on Friday, the fund’s nine competitors had combined assets of about $28 billion.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has grown to be about half the size of GBTC, with nearly $13.6 billion in assets.

Read more: Is it too soon to name BlackRock the bitcoin ETF segment winner?

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) has the third-highest asset total of the bitcoin ETFs, with about $8.6 billion.

The launch of the bitcoin ETFs has “transformed the market structure” by providing institutions with easy and regulated entry points into crypto, Fineqia research analyst Matteo Greco said in a Monday research note.

“Major financial institutions are now actively involved in holding and trading BTC, catering to high-net-worth clients, thereby enhancing the significance and acceptance of digital assets within the financial industry,” he added.

Greco noted that the positive momentum of the ETFs continues to fuel BTC’s price action.

The recent surge in BTC’s price helped push assets under management within crypto investment products to a record $94.4 billion, according to CoinShares. This total includes products beyond the US spot bitcoin ETFs, such as short bitcoin and futures products, as well as offerings focused on ether, solana and other assets.

Net inflows into crypto investment products hit a new weekly record of nearly $2.7 billion from March 4 to March 8, the CoinShares data shows — driven by the near-record bitcoin ETF flow total.

blockworks.co