Bitcoin (BTC)-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded net capital outflows totaling $634 million on two consecutive days, representing the deepest drain for these instruments so far in December.
Last Monday, investment vehicles reported expenditures of 357 million dollars, followed by another 277 million of dollars yesterday, Tuesday the 16th, consolidating a scenario of weakness in the demand for bitcoin.
The selling pressure was mainly led by the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), managed by BlackRock, which yesterday recorded an outflow of 210 million dollars.
Other financial products also reported negative balances, including the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) with $50 million, in addition to smaller outflows in funds such as ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL).
The graph below shows, day by day, how capital flows have been from or to BTC ETFs.
This disinvestment trend has directly impacted the price of bitcoin, which has experienced a 6% decline in the last week. It is currently trading in the $87,000 area, after having touched $88,000.
As CriptoNoticias has explained, the dynamics of spot ETFs are fundamental for the market, since these structures require managers to hold real bitcoin to back the issued shares. When investors withdraw their capital en masse, institutions are forced to liquidate part of their digital currency holdings to meet redemptions.
This sudden increase in available supply, added to the decrease in buying interest, generates downward pressure that is usually reflected immediately in the price of BTC.