Dwindling optimism for Bitcoin ETF approval to blame as weekly crypto outflows hit $55M

Even altcoins slumped, with only Ripple and Cardano registering inflows.

Digital asset investment products saw $55 million in outflows for the week of September 13-19, according to a report from CoinShares. 

Optimism surrounding what was previously thought to be the impending approval of a spot-based Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has begun to give way as $42 million worth of the week’s outflows came from BTC alone.

This week in Fund Flows by @CoinSharesCo Head of Research @jbutterfill:

Digital asset investment products saw outflows totalling US$55m — we believe this is in reaction to recent media highlighting that a decision by the US Securities & Exchange Commission to authorise a US… pic.twitter.com/Ecxx3GeZkR

— CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) August 21, 2023

Ethereum products didn’t fare much better given its market share. Ether funds saw $9 million in outflows, while Polygon, Litecoin and Polkadot also saw outflows totaling a combined $2 million.

The only cryptocurrencies to experience inflows for the week were Ripple and Cardano. The former saw $1.2 million in inflows and Cardano pulled in a modest $100,000.

Related: Bitcoin ETFs: A beginner’s guide to exchange-traded funds

Geographically speaking, nearly every territory reported on saw outflows. Canada led the losses list with its $35.9 million in outflows representing the lion’s share. It was followed by Germany and the U.S. with $11 million and $5.5 million in outflows, respectively.

Switzerland and Australia managed to report the only inflows, with the Swiss market supporting $3.5 million worth of inflows and Australia seeing $100,000.

According to CoinShares, the outflows were driven by a lack of movement from the Securities and Exchange Commission toward approving a spot Bitcoin ETF:

“We believe this [market movement] is in reaction to recent media highlighting that a decision by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in allowing a US spot-based ETF is not imminent.”

Investor speculation surrounding the potential approval of a spot-based Bitcoin ETF has led to a lot of optimism for the future of cryptocurrency. Some experts even claim that such approval could be a ‘moon worthy’ catalyst for crypto.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, research boutique Fundstrat believes that the coin value of Bitcoin “will surge past an eye-watering $150,000 by the end of 2024,” if the SEC does start approving spot-based Bitcoin ETFs.