Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded near-record inflows yesterday of over $1 billion, as Bitcoin's price neared the $100,000 milestone for the first time amid volatile trading conditions.
The huge inflows come after options trading on BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF kicked off on November 19, following the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of the listing of options for spot Bitcoin ETFs last month.
Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted the largest inflows of any fund yesterday, drawing in just over $608 million on November 21, according to data from Farside Investors.
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), meanwhile, attracted over $301 million of new funds, while Bitwise’s Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) fund attracted $68 million.
Though historically extremely high, yesterday's ETF inflows are still quite a way off those recorded on November 8, amid the immediate run-up to the election of Donald Trump and widespread speculation regarding the impact of the pro-crypto U.S. government.
Blackrock’s IBIT pulled in a total of $1.12 billion on November 7, beating out its prior October 30 record of $872 million, according to data from SoSoValue.
Trump had promised to protect crypto mining interests, fire regulators like the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Gary Gensler (who subsequently announced he was stepping down), and even establish a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve.
The news of record inflows comes as Bitcoin ETFs are increasingly becoming one of the dominant ways in which Bitcoin is held.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted how U.S. bitcoin ETFs hit $100 billion in assets on November 22 in a tweet.
This means that Bitcoin EFTs now account for a larger proportion of the total Bitcoin held than Bitcoin’s anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, and represent about 82% of the total value of Gold ETFs.
However, it seems Bitcoin ETFs’ rosy investor sentiment hasn't carried over to Ethereum ETFs. Per Farside Investors data, Ethereum ETFs have recorded outflows every day consecutively since November 14, hemorrhaging $7 million on November 21.
