On August 19, spot exchange-traded funds based on the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization recorded outflows. BTC Markets analyst Rachel Lucas linked this to macroeconomic uncertainty, writes The Block.
Over the past day, investors withdrew $523 million from the bitcoin ETF. The largest losses were incurred by investment products from Fidelity and Grayscale — $246.9 million and $115.53 million, respectively. The IBIT fund from BlackRock maintained a zero balance.
Ethereum ETFs saw a withdrawal of $422 million — the second-largest outflow since the launch of the instrument. Funds from Fidelity and Grayscale saw withdrawals of $156.32 million and $122 million, respectively. The others experienced smaller losses.
The scale of these outflows indicates a shift in the positions of institutional investors: either funds are withdrawing money to lock in profits at recent highs and reallocating it to cash or treasury bonds, or we are witnessing a broader reaction to reduced risks due to renewed concerns about inflation, the strengthening of the US dollar, and uncertainty regarding Federal Reserve policy,” Lucas noted.
