Spot bitcoin ETFs record $1B outflow

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds swung to their biggest weekly pullback in weeks as investors withdrew about $995.5 million in the five trading days ended May 15, according to Farside Investors data. The move broke a six-week stretch of net inflows across the category after a run that had added billions of dollars to the products. The heaviest selling came in the middle of the week, when the group posted a $630.4 million net outflow on May 13. SoSoValue’s tracker showed BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust remained the largest fund in the segment by assets, with about $65.9 billion. ### Which dates make up the roughly $1 billion weekly outflow? Farside Investors listed daily net flows of $27.2 million on May 11, minus $233.2 million on May 12, minus $630.4 million on May 13, plus $131.3 million on May 14 and minus $290.4 million on May 15. Added together, those sessions produced a net weekly outflow of about $995.5 million. May 13 was the worst day of the week by a wide margin. Farside’s table showed BlackRock’s IBIT lost $284.7 million that day, Ark/21Shares’ ARKB lost $177.1 million and Fidelity’s FBTC lost $133.2 million. ### Which funds saw the largest withdrawals? BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC and Ark/21Shares’ ARKB accounted for much of the week’s redemptions, based on the Farside breakdown. Across the five sessions, IBIT recorded net outflows of about $314.2 million, FBTC about $146.8 million and ARKB about $324.2 million. Grayscale’s GBTC also posted notable withdrawals during the week. Farside’s figures showed GBTC lost $92.8 million over the five sessions, including $43.6 million on May 15 and $31.6 million on May 14. ### How large is the bitcoin ETF market after the pullback? SoSoValue’s dashboard, as viewed on May 17, showed total net assets of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs at about $104.29 billion. The same page listed cumulative net inflows for the group at about $58.39 billion. BlackRock’s IBIT remained the largest single fund on that measure. SoSoValue listed IBIT with about $65.92 billion in net assets, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at about $10.91 billion and Grayscale’s GBTC at about $12.16 billion. ### Did the outflows erase the longer run of inflows? Farside Investors’ running totals showed the category still held a large positive cumulative flow balance despite the weekly reversal. Its table listed aggregate cumulative net inflows of about $58.39 billion for U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. The outflow week followed six straight weeks of net additions. Farside’s daily table showed positive weekly totals from May 1 through May 8, including $629.8 million on May 1, $532.3 million on May 4 and $467.3 million on May 5. ### Where are investors likely to watch next? SoSoValue updates daily fund-level flow and asset data for the U.S. spot bitcoin ETF market, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise and Ark/21Shares. Farside Investors also publishes a daily table that breaks out net creations and redemptions by fund. The next data point will be the Monday, May 18 trading session, when investors will be able to see whether IBIT, FBTC, GBTC and ARKB extend the outflow trend or return to net inflows.