Crypto Funds Saw $500M in Outflows Last Week as GBTC Bleed Outweighed Rivals' Gains: CoinShares

Though slowing sizably through the course of last week, outflows from Grayscale's bitcoin ETF (GBTC) continued to be greater than inflows into other funds, digital asset manager CoinShares reported Monday.

GBTC, the largest and longest-running bitcoin fund recently converted into an ETF from a closed-end structure, endured $2.2 billion of net outflows through last week, while newly-opened U.S. bitcoin ETFs saw just $1.8 billion in net inflows, according to the report. Adding net outflows from global vehicles, crypto-focused funds endured a net $500 million in exits, according to CoinShares.

James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, noted that GBTC outflows now total over $5 billion since Jan. 11, but daily redemptions declined through the past week suggesting that the pace of sales is slowing.

"The outflows in Grayscale aren't pretty but it looks like they are beginning to subside," Butterfill said in an X post on Sunday.

Read more: FTX Sold About $1B of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF, Explaining Much of Outflow: Sources

Indeed, blockchain data by Arkham Intelligence shows that fund manager Grayscale transferred Monday some $289 million worth of bitcoin {{BTC}} to Coinbase Prime (in preparation for sales), almost half of the average daily transfer size of $530 million during last week.

Seems like Grayscale flows are starting to significantly lessen this week.

Today, Grayscale sent 6.9K BTC ($289.5M) to Coinbase.

This is down almost 34% from their last transfer on Friday, and a decrease of over 45% from their average daily transfer size last week, $530.2M.… pic.twitter.com/FJGF1fjyxF

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) January 29, 2024

Taken alone, the data appears to be good news for bitcoin, but it needs to be balanced against what appears to be slowing flows into the other nine new U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. Those funds added about 46,000 bitcoin last week versus about 60,000 the previous week (which was just a four-day week), according to data compiled by CoinDesk.

Read more: Grayscale's GBTC Profit Taking Likely Over, Easing Bitcoin Selling Pressure: JPMorgan