In August, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a net outflow of approximately $94 million, despite a positive eight-day streak of inflows earlier in the month. Data from SoSoValue revealed 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. As a result of Bitcoin’s declining price from earlier highs in the month, the total net assets held by all commercially available Bitcoin funds decreased by $4.24 billion, bringing the total to around $53.8 billion by the end of August. The latter part of the month saw net outflows surpassing inflows, with industry leader BlackRock’s IBIT fund recording its first outflows since May, contributing to the overall negative monthly performance.
On the final trading day of August, most Bitcoin funds reported zero net inflows, with four funds logging outflows, including Grayscale’s GBTC, ARK, 21Shares’ ARKB, Bitwise’s BITB, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Invesco’s BTCO. Grayscale’s GBTC saw the largest outflow on that day, with $70 million leaving the fund, bringing its year-to-date cumulative outflows close to $20 billion. On the Ethereum side, spot ether ETFs also faced challenges, recording no significant inflows or outflows on the last trading day of August. Since their launch, these funds have seen a steady decline in activity, with a total cumulative net outflow of $477.25 million as of the end of August. Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH funds accounted for $5.4 billion of the nearly $7 billion in assets held by spot ether ETFs, with BlackRock’s ETHA and others experiencing outflows.
Ether spot ETFs have struggled with net outflows since their U.S. launch in contrast to spot Bitcoin ETFs, according to a JPMorgan research report. Ether ETFs began trading on July 23, approximately six months after the launch of Bitcoin funds. In the first five weeks following each launch, Ether ETFs experienced around $500 million in net outflows, while Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows exceeding $5 billion. The weak performance of ether ETFs was attributed to Bitcoin’s “first mover advantage,” the absence of staking options, and lower liquidity, making ether ETFs less attractive to institutional investors. Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) saw $2.5 billion in outflows, exceeding JPMorgan’s anticipated $1 billion outflows as the trust transitioned from a closed-end fund to a spot ETF. To mitigate these outflows, Grayscale introduced a mini ether ETF that attracted $200 million in inflows but was not able to offset the overall negative trend for spot ether ETFs.
