US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are on course for a streak of five consecutive weeks of net outflows, with their strongest performance since mid-January.
Funds recorded net inflows of $1.1 billion for three straight days, according to data from SoSoValue, leaving them about $815 million ahead after Monday’s net outflows are taken into account, the most since adding $1.4 billion in the week ended Jan. 16.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for more than half of the three-day flow, pulling in about $652 million. On Wednesday, Grayscale’s GBTC, which carries the highest fee among the funds, posted its biggest single-day inflow since converting from a trust structure to an ETF.
The renewed approaches suggest that US demand is returning, a conclusion reinforced by the Coinbase Premium Index, which turned positive after 40 days in negative territory. The index tracks the price difference between bitcoin on Coinbase (COIN), which is available to businesses in the world’s largest economy, and the broader global market. It is widely used as a measure of American institutional currents and sentiments.
Data from Checkonchain shows that total bitcoin holdings across US spot ETFs rose to 1.29 million BTC, putting assets under management (AUM) less than 10% below their peak in October.
This comes despite the spot price of bitcoin remaining 45% below its October record. The major cryptocurrency has continued to consolidate around the mid-$60,000 range this week.
Meanwhile, open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has continued to decline, falling to 107,780 BTC, according to Glassnode data. Because the CME allows institutions to simultaneously take a long position in spot bitcoin and a short position in futures — a strategy known as basis trading — the decline in futures can be seen as a sign that ETF inflows are outright long positions.
