BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), reported $188.7 million in net outflows on Dec. 24, its biggest ever daily withdrawal since launch. The unexpected milestone came on a day that also marked the fourth consecutive day of losses for US spot Bitcoin ETFs.
In contrast, US-listed Ether ETFs saw big inflows, adding a combined $53.6 million on December 24. Investors seem to be piling into ETH ETFs, despite the cooling market.
Data from Farside Investors shows a total of $338.4 million was pulled from US Bitcoin funds on Tuesday, with BlackRock’s IBIT being the hardest hit. This is particularly noteworthy because daily outflows are generally driven by other funds, despite the fact that IBIT faced negative returns in the past.
Blasting Into Funds
Two competing funds, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), also ended the day losing $83,2 million and $75 million, respectively. Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF (BITB) was the sole gainer, taking in $8.5 million, while the rest of the group posted zero flows.
US Bitcoin ETFs snapped their 15-day winning streak last week as investors dumped $671.9 million out of these funds on Dec.19, marking their historic outflow since inception. These funds have since bled around $1.5 billion. This week alone, Bitcoin ETFs shed approximately $565 million.
The continued outflows come amid market-wide turmoil post-Fed policy meeting. The central bank’s unexpected hawkish communication sent global financial markets tumbling. With less rate cuts on the way, there could be more price falls coming.
Following the Fed’s announcement to cut interest rates by 25 basis points while signaling a slower pace of future cuts, major stock indexes experienced sharp sell-offs. The S&P 500 fell by 2.9%, the Dow dropped 2.6%, and the Nasdaq composite dipped by 3.6%.
On the cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin dropped below $100,000 last Thursday and extended its slides over the following days, per CoinGecko data. Earlier this week, the flagship cryptocurrency moved lower, falling to $92,000.
Bitcoin resurged on Tuesday ahead of Christmas, rallying above $99,000. At the time of reporting, it was trading at around $98,000, up 4% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s pullback, though not impacting its year-to-date performance, still pulled altcoins lower. Most cryptocurrencies plunged into sharp price corrections, approaching their May lows.
The cryptocurrency market has seen a general downturn over the past week, with Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, falling 9.5% to around $3,400. Other major coins have followed suit, with Ripple down 9%, Solana plunging 8%, and Dogecoin crashing 13.6%. Binance Coin shows greater resilience, down around 1.6% in the last seven days.
Ethereum ETFs Net New Money
Unlike spot Bitcoin ETFs, US spot Ethereum ETFs reported $53.6 million in net inflows on Tuesday, extending their inflow streak to two days after accumulating $130.8 million on Monday.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum ETF (ETHA) led with $43.9 million of gains, followed by competing funds managed by Fidelity and Bitwise. Other funds saw zero flows.
Although its IBIT fund suffered the largest losses yesterday, BlackRock remains a dominant force in both the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF sectors. IBIT still holds the title of world’s largest Bitcoin fund, and ETHA is also growing in size.
As of Dec. 24, BlackRock’s IBIT has amassed $53.9 billion in assets under management. This remarkable growth has propelled IBIT into the top 1% of all ETFs by size, surpassing many established funds, including BlackRock’s own iShares Gold Trust, which has been around since 2005 and currently holds approximately $32.9 billion in assets.
Last week, spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $135.6 million in net outflows last Thursday and Friday. Despite mixed performance after the Fed meeting and the negative impact of the Fed’s hawkish stance, these funds showed a stronger recovery, netting over $180 million this week.
With 2025 coming soon, investors may be looking to book profits from a great year.
