The US Bitcoin (BTC-USD) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) has seen significant outflows since early October, breaking a week of steady inflows and contributing to the recent slide in digital asset prices. are.
On Thursday, Bitcoin fell more than 2% to $60,269.91 (£45,945.86).
On Wednesday, the US Spot Bitcoin ETF experienced net outflows of $52.9 million. This includes BlackRock’s (BLK) sale from the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), marking the first time in weeks that the world’s largest fund manager has reduced its holdings in the ETF.
Tuesday marked the biggest single-day decline in Spot Bitcoin ETFs since September 3, with total outflows reaching $242.6 million, according to data from Pharcyde Investors, reflecting a shift in investor sentiment. It is said that it is showing.
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The total net assets held by all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were $55.85 billion as of Thursday, accounting for 4.64% of Bitcoin market capitalization.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs work similarly to traditional ETFs, but specifically track the real-time price of Bitcoin. These financial products invest directly in Bitcoin as the underlying asset and were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January.
Geopolitical tensions shake up markets
Bitcoin also faces pressure from external macroeconomic factors, including heightened tensions in the Middle East region where Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s attack on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon. It fell by as much as 6% on Tuesday.
This geopolitical escalation shook global markets, sending Bitcoin to a low of $60,300, erasing nearly all gains since the US Federal Reserve’s September 18 interest rate cut.
However, since Tuesday’s plunge, Bitcoin has recovered slightly from the $60,000 support level, rising above $61,100 and stabilizing in mostly sideways trading over the past 24 hours.
Despite growing market uncertainty, on-chain data suggests renewed optimism among large Bitcoin holders.
Whale accumulation suggests bullish potential
According to CryptoQuant’s on-chain data, whales, which are large Bitcoin holders, have been increasing their accumulation of cryptocurrencies amid the recent economic downturn, even as the overall market performance has been weak since early October. Nevertheless, expectations are high for a future bull market.
“Look at how hard the new whales are accumulating Bitcoin. We’ve never seen accumulations like this in this market,” CryptoQuant founder Ki Young-Ju said in a post on X. .
Rather than speculating on future price movements through futures contracts, he said, these large Bitcoin holders can buy physical Bitcoin on the spot market and trade directly with other large traders over-the-counter (OTC). He added that he is focused on short selling and is not interested in short selling. Period price volatility.
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Volatility spoils the beginning of ‘Uptober’
Bitcoin’s recent volatile performance casts doubt on the prospects for “Uptober,” the nickname given to October by the crypto community, which has historically been a strong month for Bitcoin. There was a tendency to
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Bitcoin ended September with a positive monthly return, and historically a strong September has often paved the way for gains in the final quarter of the year. According to Coinglass data, since 2013, Bitcoin has posted negative returns in October only twice (2014 and 2018).
Analysts remain hopeful, with some pointing to favorable macroeconomic conditions that could rekindle risk-on sentiment in the coming weeks.
“While Middle East geopolitics may be in the spotlight for now, the shallow decline following the escalation of the conflict suggests that the market remains well bid for risk assets, and this small pullback may be We should not lose sight of the big picture,” QCP Capital said. analysts said in a report Wednesday.
“Liquidity outflows and possible fiscal support from the People’s Bank of China are likely to support asset prices in China, with bullish sentiment spilling over globally to support risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. There is a possibility.”
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