Key Points
- Grayscale’s Bitcoin holdings have declined since the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF.
- Despite the decline, Grayscale continues to see significant volume in ETF flows.
After the approval and introduction of the spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, a noticeable decrease in Grayscale’s Bitcoin holdings has been observed. Unusually, zero flows have been recorded on most platforms since the ETF’s inception.
Grayscale’s Declining Holdings
A detailed analysis of institutions recently approved for spot Bitcoin ETFs showed that Grayscale had the highest BTC market capitalization. However, a closer look at the data reveals a decrease in the amount of BTC held by Grayscale over the past few months. As per Coinglass data, Grayscale held over 619,000 BTC in January, but as of now, their total holdings have dropped to around 310,000 BTC.
Grayscale’s existing Bitcoin Trust, GBTC, was converted into an ETF rather than being launched as a new entity. Despite the reduction in Grayscale’s holdings, it continues to see substantial volume in ETF flows. Still, some spot ETF platforms have recently reported zero flows.
Analysis of Bitcoin Spot ETF Netflow
An examination of the Bitcoin spot ETF netflow on Coinglass shows consecutive outflows in recent days. On April 15th and 16th, outflows totaled $26.7 million and $58 million, respectively. This is not the first instance of consecutive negative flows, with the highest number recorded in March. At that time, data showed consecutive outflows for five consecutive days.
Interestingly, only BlackRock’s IBIT and Grayscale’s GBTC, the only U.S. spot BTC ETFs, have recorded any flows since the start of this week. Further analysis of the Bitcoin spot ETF flow shows that on April 15th, GBTC saw an outflow of $157.50 million, followed by another outflow of $109 million on April 16th, continuing the trend of consecutive outflows.
In contrast, IBIT experienced a different flow pattern, with an inflow of $76.23 million on April 15th and nearly $26 million on April 16th. No flows have been recorded from other platforms. However, James Seyffart pointed out that this does not signify the product’s failure.
He explained that on most days, the vast majority of all U.S. ETFs post zero inflows, which is considered standard for any ETF in a given sector. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at around $63,170, indicating a drop of over 1%.
