BlackRock Bitcoin ETF hits 69-day streak of earnings in half a day on ‘4/20’.
Bitcoin (BTC) is serving up some classic memories this week – and it's just past the “4/20” half-day.
Thanks to the success of the space, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), market observers are celebrating the “perfect” half.
Halve Bitcoin full of memes
BTC's price action may have been sideways this half, but the timing is giving the impression that it was all meant to be.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Eric Balchunas, an independent ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, described a curious half-day coincidence.
Not only did the seminal event hit on April 20 — “4/20” itself a key day of note — but the largest U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF closed out 69 straight days of inflows.
“It's a bit too perfect,” Balchunas says succinctly.
Bitcoin ETFs have seen a slowdown in inflows since peaking in March. Despite this, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest ETF by assets under management, has yet to see a single day of outflows.
The latest data covering ETF flows, including UK-based investment firm Farside, meanwhile, shows a tentative rebound late last week.
On April 19, IBIT took in just under $30 million, while the second-largest ETF, managed by Fidelity Investments, managed about $55 million.
Outflows from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the subject of their own ongoing debate, were modest at $45.8 million on the day.
The performance of the Bitcoin ETF divides opinion
Recent Form 13F filings, meanwhile, have raised concerns that Bitcoin ETFs may not be able to penetrate the mainstream.
Related: BTC Price Rises on Support Fueling 2023 Bull Market
Discussing the first-quarter allocation data, Jim Bianco, founder of macro research firm Biaco Research, described it as “disappointing.”
“Unrealized gains are rapidly declining,” he added on an X thread about ETF investors with current BTC price action.
Against this, Balchunas suggests that asset managers treat the products as “hot sauce”.
“IBIT now has about 60 reported shareholders, but only own a measly 0.4% of the total shares,” he wrote on the X thread.
“It shows that most of the bites are bites, but there are plenty of fish. This corresponds to our theory that it is used as a hot sauce for 60/40 PLL, with a high daily # of trades, we add a little.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
