Investors record losses related to spot Bitcoin ETFs, BTC price sinks below $41,800, the Fear and Greed Index drops to “neutral.”
Bitcoin’s Fear and Greed Index fell by 24 points over two days, settling in “neutral” levels at 52 points, its lowest since October 19, 2023. The drop in the “greed” level came just two days after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. The overall hype around the launch of new investment products dropped significantly.
Within two days after the launch, the inflow of funds into spot Bitcoin ETFs amounted to approximately $1.4 billion. Such data was published by Eric Balchunas, Analyst at Bloomberg. In total, about 500,000 transactions were made for $3.6 billion with new exchange-traded funds. These figures include inflows and outflows of funds, but exclude transactions that are still awaiting settlement.
The largest outflow of funds was recorded from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) — about $579 million. The outflow of funds, according to Anthony Scaramucci, Founder of SkyBridge Capital, is due to the fact that GBTC holders record losses and move to options with lower fees.
In terms of fund inflows, the leaders were:
- BlackRock (IBTC) — $497.7 million;
- Fidelity (FBTC) — $422.3 million;
- Bitwise (BITC) — $237.9 million.
The drop in the general hype around spot Bitcoin ETFs and a break in trading led to a decline in the price of BTC, which dipped below $41,800. As of 12:00 (GMT+2), January 15, 2024, its value is around $42,700, CoinGecko reports. At the same time, the decrease in quotes causes confusion among users. According to Google Trends, searches for “Why is Bitcoin dropping?” grew by 1,100% in two days, as market participants are looking for reasons for the current price movement of BTC.
On January 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the issuance of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. The next day, 11 exchange-traded funds started trading on three exchanges. On the first day, the volume of new investment instruments exceeded $4.5 billion, and BTC at the moment rose to $48,800.
