Bitcoin ETF Barely Achieves Net Capital Inflow Last Month
BlackRock's IBIT Fund Ranks in Top 1% of US ETFs in Capital Inflow This Year
"This phenomenon is impressive and helps explain why Bitcoin's price is so stable," said Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg ETF expert. Wall Street is completing a task many thought impossible: stabilizing Bitcoin's price by cryptocurrency standards.
According to Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas, Bitcoin ETFs attracted $131 million in funds over the past month. BlackRock led with $2.4 billion in net inflow, with its fund ranking in the top 1% of US ETFs this year. These capital flows helped Bitcoin maintain resilience amid the global trade war sparked by Trump. When traditional capital markets were severely impacted, Bitcoin demonstrated remarkable stability—at least in recent weeks.
Currently, Bitcoin is priced at $84,800, with a 7-day increase of 6.6%, while traditional stocks generally declined 3%-5%. Balchunas commented on social media on Thursday, calling it "astonishing" and noting that "ETF capital flows reveal the source of Bitcoin's relative price stability: a more stable holder structure".
Is it too early to assert a fundamental transformation in the Bitcoin market ecosystem? Before institutional investors like BlackRock entered, any negative news could trigger market panic selling. Now, "resilience" has become the new norm. "ETF investors' position steadfastness far exceeds most people's imagination," Balchunas emphasized.
Dune analytics data shows that Bitcoin ETFs currently manage over $93 billion in assets, accounting for more than 5.5% of Bitcoin's total circulation. Another major holder is Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy, which holds 582,185 Bitcoins valued at $44 billion.
Balchunas has long advocated that Wall Street investors are more patient than native crypto investors. This view is now gaining more recognition. "In this cycle, we haven't seen masses of retail investors blindly rushing into the market," Bitcoin analyst James Chek noted in his Thursday 'On-Chain Verification' report.
"Tourist" Sellers
Who is selling Bitcoin to BlackRock and Saylor?
When Bitcoin ETFs were approved in January 2024, Grayscale GBTC investors conducted massive sell-offs, which new ETFs fully absorbed. "Over the past 15 months, ETFs and Saylor have continuously absorbed selling pressure from 'tourists', FTX event survivors, GBTC discount arbitrageurs, judicially unlocked tokens, and government-seized assets," Balchunas explained. "FTX survivors" might refer to investors who successfully withdrew funds but were ultimately deterred by the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal. The bankrupt exchange's creditors are expected to receive payment in late May.
For Balchunas, as long as these sell-offs are taken over by well-funded institutions, it's worth welcoming. "(ETF investors) should enhance long-term market stability and reduce volatility and correlation."
Daily Crisis
Of course, Bitcoin is not without challenges.
Low network activity has sparked a heated debate between Jack Dorsey and Michael Saylor about survival crisis. Dorsey warned that if network development remains unchanged, it "will certainly fail". Meanwhile, US miners, as network security guardians, are facing shrinking revenues. "It's simply chaos day after day," Luxor CEO Nick Hansen previously admitted to DL News.
