Grayscale Investments has achieved a significant milestone as its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF) recorded net positive inflows for the first time in nearly four months. Since its conversion to a spot Bitcoin ETF in January, the fund has experienced continuous outflows. However, on May 3, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) reported $63 million of net inflows, following approximately $17.5 billion of outflows since 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs were launched on January 11, according to preliminary data from Farside.
In addition to Grayscale, other funds have also seen notable inflows. Franklin Templeton’s Bitcoin ETF recorded its highest-ever inflows of $60.9 million. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund led the day’s inflows with $102.6 million, followed by the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund with $33.5 million and the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF with $33.2 million.
The cryptocurrency community has been speculating about the potential impact of this development on the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Pseudonymous crypto investor DivXman suggested that the GBTC was the primary source of sell pressure across all spot Bitcoin ETFs, but acknowledged that the tides might be turning. He explained to his followers that this shift could result in a decrease in sell pressure and an increase in demand, as ETFs collectively buy more BTC than miners can create.
Crypto trader Jelle predicted to his followers that Bitcoin’s new all-time high is on the horizon. Meanwhile, crypto trader Jordan Lindsey highlighted the correlation between Bitcoin’s price and the news, noting that it is obviously responding to both outflows and inflows. At the time of publication, Bitcoin’s price had increased by 4.91% over the past 24 hours to reach $62,840, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Several factors have contributed to Grayscale’s continuous outflows since the launch of the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. One reason is the higher fees charged by GBTC compared to other available ETFs. GBTC’s fee stands at 1.5%, while other ETFs have fees below 1%. The cheapest option currently is Franklin Templeton, which charges a fee of 0.19%. Another significant factor is the selling off of large amounts of GBTC shares by bankrupt crypto firms FTX and Genesis in an effort to repay creditors. On April 6, Genesis liquidated approximately 36 million GBTC shares for $2.1 billion to purchase 32,041 Bitcoin.