Bitcoin ETF Inflow Returns After Abyssal Phase

The outflows from bitcoin ETFs over the past couple of months suggested strong bearish sentiment among institutional investors. However, there appeared to be a change in the tide last week when a remarkable inflow trend was recorded over a three-day period. These moves to the long-exposure BTC ETFs showed that investors expected further upside for the digital asset, and the decline in short BTC exposure speaks volumes.

ProShares outgoing and incoming

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

BITI payouts for last Friday came out to a total of 1,060 BTC in a single day period, the largest outflow the ETF has recorded since its launch. Furthermore, the outflows would continue into the new week, as BITI saw another 425 BTC leave. This brought the total exposure of BITI down to 3,580 BTC as of Monday.

BITO ETF records inflows | Source: Arcane Research

As for BITO, there have been all shades of good news over the past week. Three consecutive days of inflows saw 1,650 BTC flow into the ETF. This follows a month of ETF outflows, showing more demand for long exposure to the digital asset.

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

Bitcoin not out of the woods

Although there has been a lot of inflow into long bitcoin ETFs, the numbers still do not indicate a complete shift to the bullish sentiment among investors. BITI’s BTC exposure shows that while there may be some movement into long ETFs, betting against the price of bitcoin remains on investors’ minds.

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

BITI’s current total exposure stands at 3,850 BTC, the same as it was at the peaks in June and July. So while there have been outflows, there is still strong sentiment to continue shorting the digital asset.

BITO had recorded its strongest one-day inflows back on Friday, but it has yet to fully reverse the bearish trend. Even with such high inflows, the ETF is currently at a three-month low. Positive from the three-day inflow was, however, an increase on a CME basis.

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

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