Bitcoin ETF Inflows Returns After Abysmal Phase

Bitcoin ETF outflows over the past few months suggested strong bearish sentiment among institutional investors. Last week, however, the tide appeared to be turning as a remarkable influx trend was recorded over a three-day period. This influx into the BTC ETFs that offer long exposure showed that investors expected further gains in the digital asset, and the decline in short BTC exposure speaks the truth about this.

ProShares Outflow and Inflow

The ProShares Bitcoin ETFs are the most popular on the market. The BITO ETF offers long exposure, while the much newer BITI ETF allows investors to take advantage of short exposure. Launched in a bear market, BITI grew rapidly in terms of BTC exposure. However, the past week has shown that investors are reluctant to bet against the price of bitcoin.

BITI’s outflows for last Friday totaled 1,060 BTC in a one-day period, the largest outflow the ETF has recorded since its launch. In addition, the outflow was set to continue into the new week, when BITI saw another 425 BTC exit. This brought BITI’s aggregate exposure as of Monday to 3,580 BTC.

BITCOIN ETF records inflows | Source: Arcane Research

As for the BITO, there was all good news this past week. Three consecutive days of inflows saw 1,650 BTC flow into the ETF. This follows a month of outflows for the ETF, showing increased demand for long-term exposure to the digital asset.

While BITI had seen 1,050 BTC in outflows on Friday, BITO had registered 700 BTC inflows on the same day. It suggests that investors are pulling out of their short positions and placing them in long positions.

Bitcoin not out of the woods

While there has been a lot of inflows into long-term bitcoin ETFs, the numbers still don’t suggest a complete shift to bullish investor sentiment. BITI’s BTC exposure shows that while there may be some movement towards long ETFs, betting against the price of bitcoin still remains in the minds of investors.

BTC declines to $20,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

BITI’s current aggregate exposure is at 3,850 BTC, the same as during the June and July peaks. So even though there have been outflows, there is still a strong sentiment to continue shorting the digital asset.

BITO had recorded its strongest one-day inflow on Friday, but it has yet to fully reverse the bearish trend. Even with such high inflows, the ETF is currently at its three-month low. However, a positive point of the three-day influx was a recovery on a CME basis.

Featured image from CryptoPotato, charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com

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