U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw another day of positive net inflows on July 16 as crypto fever continues to take hold of institutional investors.
Amid the surge of buying activity, BlackRock has emerged as champion and now commands over $20 billion in its Bitcoin fund.
According to Farside Investors and SoSoValue data , U.S. spot BTC ETFs have recorded their eighth day of consecutive net inflows, bagging approximately $422.5 million on July 16.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT ) scored its largest inflows since June 5, pulling $260.2 million. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) netted $61.1 billion, and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) posted net inflows of $29.8 billion. The VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL) also saw its highest inflows for some time, adding a sturdy $22 million to its balance sheet.
For the smaller funds, gains were notably larger than recent averages. The Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO) gained $20.5 million, and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) gained $17.3 million.
The Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) garnered a solid $9.4 million, while the CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR) saw a humble $2.2 million in net inflows.
Notably, today marks a record day for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC ), which posted its second consecutive day of net neutral flows for the first time in its history.
Once again, Blackrock’s IBIT stands tall, garnering more inflows on July 16 than all the others combined.
Most notably, IBIT saw its only day of net outflows on May 1, shedding a mere $36.93 million. Though its average inflows certainly cooled off between April and the end of May, it’s outperformed every other fund in cumulative net inflows.
As of July 16, IBIT has $20.92 billion in net assets, ranking it above GBTC, which has $17.8 billion. Grayscale’s ever-dwindling fund could soon be ranked third as Fidelity’s FBTC continues to climb with net assets of $11.59 billion.
It’s safe to say that institutional interest is heightened thanks to news of a potential July 23 launch for spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs.
According to Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Bitwise, Ethereum ETF inflows could have a greater impact on ETH than Bitcoin ETFs did for BTC. In a note to clients on Tuesday, Hougan posited that inflows could push ETH above the $5,000 mark.
“But by year-end, I’m confident the new highs will be in. And if flows are stronger than many market commentators expect, the price could be much higher still,”
Although he explains that it will be a “choppy” few weeks following the launch, he expects a great deal of outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) following its conversion to a spot ETF.
Considering that spot BTC ETFs saw over $15 billion in net inflows within their first five months, Hougan predicts that spot ETH ETFs inflows will be considerably slower and will garner $15 billion in net inflows within their first 18 months.