Grayscale’s GBTC experienced significant outflows of nearly $600 million on Thursday, marking its largest single-day redemption since January 22. However, despite this sell-off, inflows into other spot bitcoin ETFs managed to offset the impact of the GBTC sales.
Data compiled by BitMEX Research revealed that GBTC saw a staggering $599 million in outflows, nearly triple the amount from the previous day. Further confirmation from Arkham Intelligence showed Grayscale transferring almost 10,000 bitcoins to Coinbase Prime, presumably for selling, as U.S. markets opened on Friday morning.
The surge in outflows from GBTC could possibly indicate that crypto lender Genesis has initiated or accelerated the process of offloading its GBTC holdings to take advantage of the recent bitcoin rally. Genesis had received approval back on February 14 to sell 35 million GBTC shares, originally valued at $1.3 billion but now estimated at around $1.9 billion. Interestingly, outflows from GBTC had been relatively muted in the past two weeks until this sudden spike on Thursday.
The significant GBTC outflow on Thursday brought back memories of a similar occurrence in mid-January, when the bankruptcy estate of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX sold approximately $1 billion worth of shares.
On the other hand, BlackRock’s IBIT saw continued success, surpassing $10 billion in assets under management. The fund garnered a remarkable $604 million in fresh funds and added over 9,700 bitcoins during a recent session, following a record-breaking Wednesday. In just seven weeks since its launch, IBIT now holds more than 161,000 bitcoins.
While the net inflows into U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs on Thursday were the lowest in a week, the buying pressure through these investment vehicles remains a key factor contributing to the recent surge in bitcoin’s price, surpassing $60,000 for the first time since November 2021.
