Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust Halts 78-Day Outflow Streak With $63M Inflow

Statistics indicate that after a prolonged period of 78 days, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust has ceased experiencing outflows, observing an infusion of $63 million on Friday, equating to around 1,030 bitcoins.

GBTC Sees First Inflows After 78 Days

For the time being, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) appears to have halted the depletion of bitcoin following its public debut as a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Jan. 11, 2024. Unique among its peers, GBTC has existed since 2013 as a private, open-ended trust catering to accredited investors via the OTCQX over-the-counter market.

GBTC offers investors a pathway to gain exposure to BTC without the necessity of direct acquisition. In its initial years, investors accepted a premium to hold shares in GBTC. In 2017, the premium for GBTC shares skyrocketed to 132%, and by Dec. 2020, it stood at 38.57%.

This premium shifted to a discount on the net asset value (NAV) by the end of Feb. 2021, maintaining this trend until it commenced public trading in Jan. 2024. By Dec. 2022, the discount deepened to more than 48% against GBTC’s NAV. The fluctuations between initial premiums and subsequent discounts significantly impacted investors.

By the time the discount period concluded and GBTC became public, a substantial amount of capital had withdrawn from the fund. The situation was further complicated by Genesis’s bankruptcy, which led to the sale of sufficient GBTC shares to acquire 32,041 bitcoins. The end of Blackrock’s IBIT’s 71-day inflow streak coincided with Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas’s remarks on GBTC’s 72-day record at the time.

He pointed out that no other ETF had ever matched such a record. With the $63 million inflow on Friday, GBTC’s streak eventually concluded at total of 78 trading days. Consequently, GBTC is poised to grow its holdings by roughly 1,030 BTC, raising its balance sheet to an estimated 292,000 BTC worth $18.4 billion. Balchunas further commented on Friday’s $63 million inflow, exclaiming:

Holy crap GBTC had inflows today. Their 80 day-ish streak is finally over. I had to [rub] my eyes and double check the data but it’s true.

All of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced inflows on Friday, with data revealing that the collective group garnered $378.30 million. Throughout the trading session, these ETFs amassed a total trading volume of $1.78 billion. Leading in trading volume, Blackrock’s IBIT registered around $922.81 million, while Fidelity’s FBTC witnessed $362.19 million.

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