Bitcoin ETFs See $200M Net Outflows in Fed, CPI Jitters

• U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded the second consecutive day of outflows driven by Grayscale's GBTC.
• The outflows are likely due to traders derisking ahead of U.S. CPI and the Fed rate decision.

U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a second-straight day of outflows as traders likely derisked ahead of key macroeconomic reports scheduled for later Wednesday.

Data from SoSoValue shows the eleven ETFs recorded $200 million in net outflows on Tuesday, the highest since May 1 figures of $580 million. Redemptions came amid a BTC sell-off, during which the asset briefly tumbled to $66,200 before recovering.

Grayscale’s GBTC accounted for most of the $120 million in outflows, leading among its counterparts. GBTC continues its infamous run of being the worst-performing ETF by outflows since going live in January, racking up a cumulative $18 billion in outflows.

Ark Invest’s ARKB, Bitwise’s BITB, Fidelity’s FBTC and VanEck’s HODL recorded outflows ranging from $56 million to $7 million. None of the ETFs saw any inflows.

Traders said the outflows were likely derisking action ahead of the CPI reading on Wednesday and the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that ends today, during which the Fed’s monetary policy will be decided.

“Markets are [in] risk-off mode ahead of CPI and FOMC tomorrow. This month's FOMC will also release the Dot Plot, which informs the market how many cuts the Fed anticipates for the rest of 2024,” Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a Tuesday broadcast message.

However, the firm added that its long-term bullish view remained intact.

“Despite short-term headwinds, we think this might be a good opportunity to accumulate coin. Bullish events on the horizon, such as the eventual ETH spot ETF going live along with Biden and Trump in a verbal armsrace to win the crypto vote,” QCP said.

Additional headwinds are Treasury secretary Janet Yellen’s speech on Friday, which may cause a reaction in riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies based on comments, as previously reported.