On May 1, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF sector experienced a significant capital outflow of $563.77 million, marking a record for the industry. SoSo Value reported that this outflow trend persisted for six consecutive days, hitting a peak on May 1 since the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. SEC.
Ten products within the sector witnessed capital outflows, with the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) being hit the hardest at $191.09 million. Additionally, May 1 marked the first day of capital outflow for the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from BlackRock, after 70 consecutive days of net fund inflows.
Nate Geraci, the head of The ETF Store, compared the performance of IBIT with another BlackRock exchange-traded fund, the iShares Gold ETF, noting that the latter lost over $1 billion in one year. This comparison highlights the volatile nature of ETFs and the fluctuations they experience.
βShould add β these ETFs are operating smoothly across the board. Inflows and outflows are part of the norm in the life of an ETF.β – James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst
James Seyffart from Bloomberg Intelligence echoed Geraci’s sentiment, stating that such fluctuations are common for ETFs and are part of their normal operation. The outflow of capital on May 1 surpassed the total losses for the entire month of April, which only saw $345.88 million in outflows.
This significant outflow coincided with a decline in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) below $57,000, following a four-month prison sentence for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. The reactions from the crypto community to Zhao’s sentence have been notable.