•Bitcoin has lost 15% from its peak that followed the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds last week, with outflows of $1.5 billion from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a figure mentioned by a report from JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) in a report published yesterday, Thursday. .
•Nicholas Panigirzoglou, lead analyst at JPMorgan, said: “GBTC investors who have been buying a GBTC fund over the past year at a significant discount to NAV to put into Bitcoin funds in their final form, appear to have captured the full profit after converting to the ETF via... Exiting the Bitcoin space entirely.”
•Before it was listed in an exchange traded fund (ETF) from a trust, GBTC was one of the only ways for US stock traders to get exposure to Bitcoin price movements without having to buy the actual cryptocurrency. This made it the largest regulated Bitcoin fund in the world by AUM.
•The bank had previously estimated that up to $3 billion was invested in GBTC in the secondary market during 2023 to exploit the fund's discount on net asset value. If this estimate is correct, and given $1.5 billion has already exited, there could be an additional $1.5 billion to exit the space via profit taking on GBTC, which will put further pressure on Bitcoin prices in the coming weeks.
•These outflows are also pressuring GBTC to lower its fees, the report said, adding that “GBTC's 1.5% fee is still very high compared to other spot Bitcoin ETFs that risk more outflows.”
•“More capital, perhaps an additional $5 billion to $10 billion, could exit GBTC if its liquidity advantage is lost,” JPMorgan warned. As of Friday, GBTC is the most expensive ETF among its peers, with some charging zero fees for the first six months or until a certain assets under management (AUM) target is reached.
•JPMorgan says other spot bitcoin ETFs, excluding GBTC, attracted $3 billion in inflows in just four days, and this is similar to inflows seen during previous bitcoin product launches.
•Most of these $3 billion inflows reflect rotation from existing Bitcoin instruments such as futures-based ETFs, the report added.
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