Spot bitcoin ETFs draw nearly $2 billion in first three days of trading
By Suzanne McGee
(Reuters) — A new batch of U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has attracted strong investor interest, though it is unclear if they will be able to maintain the pace of inflows in coming weeks.
Investors have poured $1.9 billion into nine new exchange-traded funds tracking the spot price of bitcoin in their first three days of trading, data from issuers and analysts showed, with fund giants BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and Fidelity pulling in the lion’s share of the flows.
Collective flows to the nine funds outpaced post-launch flows into the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which drew a record $1.2 billion in the first three days of trading after its 2021 launch. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) ETF attracted $1.13 billion in the first three days after its 2004 launch.
Still, the investments in the long-awaited ETFs — launched on Jan. 11, a day after receiving approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — fell short of the most aggressive estimates of first-day flows in the billions of dollars.
Market participants said it remained to be seen to what degree funds tracking the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency continue drawing retail and institutional investors, and which issuers will come out ahead. Some bullish analysts have said flows could reach between $50 billion and $100 billion by the end of the year.
Bitcoin is down more than 8% since Jan. 11, after rallying in recent months on anticipation that the ETFs would finally get the nod from the SEC.
«So far, the launches have almost measured up to the hype,» said Todd Sohn, an ETF analyst at Strategas. «The next question is: What is their staying power? What will those flows look like in six months' time, or six years from now?»
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