Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the United States experienced a significant decrease in net inflows on March 14, with only $132 million recorded. This marked the lowest level of inflows in the past eight trading days and an 80% decline from the previous day. The decline continued on Thursday after a drop in inflows on Wednesday, which amounted to $684 million, a 38.3% decrease from March 12. However, Tuesday saw record-breaking inflows of $1.05 billion.
The total funds flowing into the ETFs on March 14 reached $390 million. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) experienced outflows of $257 million, resulting in net inflows of $132 million. On the same day, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund recorded inflows of $13.8 million and $13.7 million, respectively. Despite the significant outflow from GBTC, overall net flows remained positive on Thursday.
Among the Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF recorded the largest inflows at $345 million. After 44 days of trading, the cumulative net inflows into the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are approaching the $12 billion mark.
This decline in investor sentiment coincides with a broader downturn in the crypto market as the price of Bitcoin dropped below $69,000.
The impact of declining ETF inflows is closely tied to the fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin. After a bullish price movement on March 13, Bitcoin reached a new all-time high above $73,000 before reversing course on Thursday.
The price continued to decline on March 15, reaching around $66,000, leading to the liquidation of millions of leveraged positions. According to CoinGlass data, 193,431 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, resulting in a total liquidation of $682.14 million.
Market experts believe that the current market volatility, regulatory uncertainties, and macroeconomic factors have made investors more cautious. The current decline is also attributed to the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, which may provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s future plans for interest rates.
In other news, the Bitcoin Man, X Hall of Flame, predicts that China will intensify the Bitcoin bull run, with the cryptocurrency reaching $1 million by 2028.