Bitcoin ETFs Rebound Amid Market Rally as $500M Reenter Funds

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have generated more than $500 million in net inflows over the past three days, regaining lost ground amid a small rally in the funds underlying asset and wider gains in risk-on assets.

The ARK21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) were responsible for almost all these increases with ARKB receiving $180 million in net inflows over the three-day period, according  to data from U.K. asset manager Farside Investors. 

IBIT and FETH have generated $169.6 million and $136.5 million in net inflows over the past three trading days. 

"The shift from outflows to inflows over the last three days signifies growing confidence driven by BTC's price stabilization and institutional interest," Alan Orwick, co-founder of layer 1 protocol Quai Network, wrote in an email to Decrypt. 

The surge follows five weeks of net outflows that occurred as crypto and other markets slumped—a result of investor jitters about a looming trade war, geo-political tensions and other macroeconomic uncertainties. Bitcoin's price was recently trading at about $84,500, up more than 3% over the past 24 hours, although the largest cryptocurrency by market value is down more than 11% during the past month, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. 

More than 68% of prediction market traders on MYRIAD believe that Bitcoin's price will remain above $83,000 as of March 23. (MYRIAD is owned by Decrypt's parent company, DASTAN.)

Stocks were up Tuesday as investors awaited the latest interest rate decision and signs that the U.S. central bank would continue its quantitative easing, a boon for risk-on assets. 

Orwick noted: "As the end of the quarter approaches, institutional investors are adjusting their portfolios to align with strategic asset allocations, which this rebalancing leading to increased investments in assets such as BTC ETFs, especially if Bitcoin has under or overperformed relative to other holdings."

The 11 Bitcoin ETFs, which began trading last year, have been wildly successful and now manage roughly $100 billion in assets. IBIT alone has generated nearly $40 billion in net inflows, despite shedding assets as Bitcoin's price dropped in recent weeks. 

Looming economic issues, including the increased prospect of a recession have trumped U.S. President Donald Trump's crypto-friendly policies.

Edited by James Rubin