The Bitcoin (BTC) community is increasingly concerned about BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) halting inflows for several consecutive days for the first time since launch.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the fastest-growing spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, has not recorded any inflows since April 24.
According to data from IBIT’s official page, the fund has held the same 274,462 BTC over the past four trading days.
BlackRock’s IBIT halted its 71-day inflow streak on April 24, triggering some concerns as the fund previously consistently attracted new investments daily. After starting trading with just 2,621 BTC in holdings on Jan. 11, IBIT has increased its holdings by as much as 10,378%.
Some crypto observers expressed concerns about IBIT’s inflow halt, suggesting that such an event is not a good sign for investors. Other industry activists hinted that BlackRock’s 71-day inflow streak was rather more extraordinary than the past four days with zero inflows.
“For new bitcoins to come in or go out of an ETF, there needs to be a big enough mismatch between supply and demand, such that the market makers need to organize the creation or destruction of creation units,” Apollo co-founder Thomas Fahrer wrote on X on April 30. He added:
“This isn’t unique to the Bitcoin ETFs, this is how ETFs work in general. Most ETFs on most days, will record zero inflows. Blackrock’s trend of positive flows has been an exception to this rule.”
BlackRock’s zero inflow period comes amid other ETF issuers, including the biggest seller, Grayscale Investments, continue to see outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs.
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According to data from Hodl Capital, the total daily outflows from 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States amounted to 823 BTC on April 20. As of that day, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) held 297,117 BTC, down around 52% from the initial holdings on Jan. 11.
Versus BlackRock’s 274,462 BTC, Grayscale’s GBTC currently holds only around 8% more.
Despite a slowdown in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows in the U.S., the funds are still in positive territory in terms of total holdings’ changes since the trading launch. As of April 29, the total BTC ETF holdings amounted to 831,424 BTC, up around 33.1% since Jan. 11.
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