Grayscale and other Bitcoin ETFs have collectively reduced their holdings by 1753 BTC on June 26. This brings Grayscale’s holdings to 276,395 BTC. On the other hand, Fidelity added 765 Bitcoins and currently holds a total of 167,528.

Also Read: Bitcoin spot ETFs net $21.5M, Fidelity and Grayscale lead inflows

Meanwhile, Grayscale research notes that AI is the dominant investment theme, followed by ETFs. The shift in investment trends partly explains the reduction in net inflows throughout the week and why Bitcoin’s price struggles with fluctuations.

IBIT holds more Bitcoin than GBTC

Bitcoin ETFs showed mixed sentiments last week in terms of net inflows. On June 26, nine Bitcoin ETFs collectively decreased their Bitcoin holdings by 214 BTC. According to Lookonchain data, the outflow comes to around $13.24 million.

Jun 26 Update:

9 ETFs decreased 214 $BTC(-$13.24M).#Grayscale decreased 1,539 $BTC(-$95M) and currently holds 276,395 $BTC($17.07B).#Fidelity added 765 $BTC(+$47.27M) and currently holds 167,528 $BTC($10.35B).https://t.co/eu3Hyhuwzy pic.twitter.com/2P27hhTQsD

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 26, 2024

In the past week, all major funds together lost 7,777 BTC, which coincides with Bitcoin’s price struggles as the coin currently trades just above $61K.

Also Read: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust: A tale of massive inflows and outflows amid ETF frenzy

The 7-day net outflow now comes to over $480 million. Since the January debut of Bitcoin ETFs, Grayscale’s struggle has been more pronounced. GBTC has offloaded 1,539 BTC in a single day and 3,926 BTC over the week’s time. At the same time, BlackRock’s IBIT holds 305.612 BTC against GBTC’s 276,395 BTC.

Meanwhile, data from Farside reveals that Bitcoin ETFs saw modest net inflows of $31 million and $21.4 million on June 25 and 26,  respectively. However, in the past week, GBTC shed every single day except June 26 when it recorded $4.3 million in inflows.

IBIT seems to maintaining its position as the largest fund by assets under management. In the past week, it recorded zero net flows on all days of the week except June 20 when it saw $1.5 million enter the fund.

Grayscale believes interest in AI investments took over ETFs

Weak inflows in the ETF market are not supporting Bitcoin’s sluggish price, and also hint towards a shift in investor trends. According to Grayscale’s latest research, “AI has remained a dominant theme, followed by exchange-traded funds (ETFs).” 

Also Read: No one seems to care about spot Bitcoin ETFs anymore

According to CoinGecko, the market cap of Artificial Intelligence (AI) coins is close to $30 billion. NEAR tops the list of AI tokens by market cap, followed by Fetch.ai.

It is likely that we are all underestimating how important and impactful artificial intelligence, bitcoin, drones, genetic editing, rockets, and self-driving cars will be.

— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) June 26, 2024

Grayscale also estimates that the implications of Ethereum ETF will dominate the next quarter. Adding to that, the report noted, “Grayscale Research team also expects these new Ether products to produce meaningful net inflows (albeit less than Bitcoin ETPs), potentially supporting valuations for Ethereum and tokens within its ecosystem.”

The reduction of Bitcoin holdings in ETFs coincides with a shift in investor focus toward AI as the dominant theme. Meanwhile, the anticipation of Ethereum ETFs has only slightly helped the muted net inflows across Bitcoin funds.

Cryptopolitan reporting by Shraddha Sharma