The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) continues to see substantial outflows, with more than $166 million and over 2,500 Bitcoin withdrawn from the fund on April 12th.
Data from Farside Investors shows that outflows from GBTC have now surpassed $16.2 billion since it transitioned to a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in January. Throughout April, the daily outflows from GBTC have ranged from $75 million to $300 million.
Inflows into other spot Bitcoin ETFs have also slowed down, indicating a decrease in investor interest. GBTC experienced significant outflows of $767 million this week, contributing to the overall negative flows from spot Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock, on the other hand, has continued to show strong support, with assets under management for its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF exceeding $15 billion, narrowing the gap with GBTC.
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein suggested on April 10th that the outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust might be stabilizing, signaling optimism among traders and investors. However, outflows have continued despite this.
One possible reason for the significant outflows from GBTC is its relatively high management fee of 1.5%, which is significantly higher than the average fee of 0.30% charged by its competitors.
Sonnenshein commented that markets often experience high excitement when new commodity or thematic exposure products emerge. However, over time, these products mature, leading to a consolidation in the market as investors focus on a few select offerings.
According to Farside data, GBTC saw outflows of $17.5 million on April 10th, a notable decrease from the $154.9 million outflows recorded on April 9th. The lowest outflow was recorded on February 26th when GBTC had outflows of $22.4 million. The average daily outflow from GBTC since January is $257.8 million.
GBTC was launched in 2015 and converted to an ETF in January, alongside the launch of nine other spot Bitcoin ETFs following Grayscale’s successful lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This forced the SEC to review a GBTC conversion bid that it had previously denied.
Recently, bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis sold approximately 36 million GBTC shares to acquire 32,041 Bitcoin.
Magazine: Bitcoin ETFs make Coinbase a ‘honeypot’ for hackers and governments — Trezor CEO.