BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF sees record outflow as funds bleed $1.5B in 4 days

From cointelegraph by Ciaran Lyons

BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) saw its largest-ever single-day outflow as Bitcoin funds notched a fourth straight trading day of outflows totaling more than $1.5 billion.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) hit $188.7 million in outflows on Dec. 24, surpassing its previous record of $72.7 million set on Dec. 20, per CoinGlass data.

All 12 United States-based spot Bitcoin BTC$98,748 ETFs saw joint total outflows hit $338.4 million on Christmas Eve. Since Dec. 19, the funds have seen joint net outflows of $1.52 billion.

All-time IBIT flow data shows the fund’s rare outflow days. Source: CoinGlass

Ether ETF inflows continue

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF also saw respective Dec. 24 outflows of $83.2 million and $75 million, while the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF was the only one to see an inflow, which hit $8.5 million.

Meanwhile, Ether ETFs experienced two consecutive days of inflows in the lead-up to Christmas.

US spot Ether ETH$3,512.15 ETFs continued their momentum with a second day of inflows on Dec. 24, adding $53.6 million after a $130.8 million inflow on Dec. 23.

Total Ethereum Spot ETF Net Inflow. Source: CoinGlass

Launched in July, the Ether funds had a slow start compared to the strong early momentum that spot Bitcoin ETFs saw after their January launch.

However, since late November, the Ether ETFs have gained traction, having seen an 18-day inflow streak that was broken on Dec. 18.

Ether set to perform BTC in January

Bitcoin was trading at $98,035, up 4.59% in the last 24 hours, while Ether was trading at $3,420, up 3.28% over the same time, according to CoinMarketCap data at the time of writing.

TradingView shows Ether’s relative strength to Bitcoin — the ETH/BTC ratio — is currently at 0.035. Some analysts say that ETH may outperform Bitcoin in January 2025.

Meanwhile, net assets in US Bitcoin ETFs surpassed gold funds for the first time on Dec. 16, according to K33 Research.

On Dec. 16, the US Bitcoin funds collectively broke $129 billion in assets under management (AUM), surpassing US gold ETFs, which held just shy of that figure, according to K33 Research’s head of research, Vetle Lund.

The AUM figure includes spot BTC ETFs as well as ETFs that track Bitcoin’s performance using financial derivatives, such as futures, said Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.