Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs have continued to observe weak demand as their monthly average netflows have remained in the red.
Bitcoin & Ethereum Spot ETFs Have Been Observing Net Outflows
As pointed out by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode in a new post on X, the average netflow for both Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has remained negative recently. Spot ETFs are investment vehicles that allow investors to gain indirect exposure to an underlying asset. In the case of cryptocurrencies, this means that traders never have to interact with blockchain infrastructure themselves. Instead, the fund buys and custodies tokens on its behalf.
ETFs and similar investment vehicles for digital assets are available in various parts of the world, but currently, the most dominant funds are those based in the United States. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first approved spot ETFs for Bitcoin in January 2024 and for Ethereum in July 2024. Since their establishment, ETFs have grown into a cornerstone of the market, tapping into demand from traditional institutional entities.
First, here is a chart that shows the trend in the 30-day simple moving average (SMA) of the Bitcoin spot ETF netflow over the last couple of years:
These funds appear to have been facing a wave of outflows in recent weeks | Source: Glassnode on X
As shown in the above graph, the US Bitcoin spot ETFs saw their 30-day SMA netflow dip into negative territory back in November, suggesting net capital outflows began.
Since then, the indicator has mostly remained inside this territory, although the capital bleeding has slowed down recently. Earlier this month, the 30-day SMA netflow even flipped into the positive zone, but the net inflows lasted only briefly, with the indicator quickly returning to the red region.
A similar pattern has also been witnessed with Ethereum spot ETFs, as the chart below shows.
How the 30-day SMA netflow of the US ETH spot ETFs has changed since the funds began trading | Source: Glassnode on X
From the graph, it’s visible that the US Ethereum spot ETFs have also seen their 30-day SMA netflow return to the underwater zone after a brief wave of net capital inflows.
This means that interest in the digital asset market as a whole continues to be down among ETF users. “There is no sign of renewed demand,” noted the analytics firm. It now remains to be seen how long the wave of outflows will go on.
BTC Price
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $88,000, down 3.5% in the last seven days.
The trend in the price of the coin over the last five days | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView