Outflows from crypto asset manager Grayscale Investment’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) continued on the third day of its trading as a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to data from Bitwise research, GBTC recorded $590 million in outflows on Monday, bringing the total amount of investor funds pulled over a three-day period to $1.16 billion.
Bitcoin Spot ETFs – Day 3
Possible new share count number for GBTC on day 3 is out. It implies $590m outflow in day 3. This would be $1,169m GBTC outflow in the first three days
Still awaiting data from other providers pic.twitter.com/Y03iFPYkCC
— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) January 16, 2024
Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) suggested that the money flowing out of GBTC was likely going back into cheaper Bitcoin funds – an explanation that holds up given that GBTC was the only spot Bitcoin ETF which saw recorded outflows in the first two days of trading.
It is worth noting that Grayscale held its fees steady at 1.5%, making it the most expensive option for investors looking to gain exposure to the digital asset through spot ETFs. The second highest fees charged by an ETF issuer was just 0.39% by Invesco Galaxy.
Blockchain data shows that Grayscale has sent a total of 9,000 Bitcoin to crypto exchange Coinbase through a series of nine transactions. At the time of writing, the total value of funds sent to Coinbase amounted to $385 million. Grayscale updated its website to reflect its total fund holdings were down to 605,890 BTC.
The price of Bitcoin appeared fairly resilient after news of Grayscale moving funds to Coinbase. The market leading digital asset was trading at around $42,900 at the time of writing, recovering from a dip to $42,000 earlier in the day.
Still, Bitcoin has come off its highs ahead of $48,900 seen in the days leading up to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Several industry watchers have attributed this correction to large scale selling in GBTC.
The investor exodus doesn’t seem to have fazed Grayscale, which has continued with its plans to expand product offerings. Earlier, Unchained reported that Grayscale filed for a new Bitcoin covered-call ETF.