Bitcoin ETFs Add $115 Million in New Inflows, Ether ETFs Reverse Recent Momentum

Blackrock once again propped up the bitcoin ETF market, this time single-handedly. IBIT pulled in a staggering $409.72 million, more than enough to absorb heavy outflows from ARKB ($132.05 million), FBTC ($123.66 million), and GBTC ($39.06 million).

Bitcoin ETFs continued to attract institutional interest, with a strong net inflow of $115 million reported on Thursday, May 18, according to DeFi technologies provider, Tokenist. The inflows were driven mainly by a massive injection of $409.72 million into BlackRock's IBIT, as reported by the firm.

The massive inflow into IBIT more than offset outflows from other bitcoin ETFs, including ARKB, which saw outflows of $132.05 million, and FBTC, which had outflows of $123.66 million. GBTC also saw outflows of $39.06 million.

Despite the significant outflows from other ETFs, the day closed with a green print for bitcoin ETFs, which had a net inflow of $114.96 million. The volume of trade across bitcoin ETFs was $2.58 billion, and net assets stood at $121.47 billion.

In contrast, ether ETFs saw a reversal of the recent inflow momentum, with the funds reporting a net outflow of $39.79 million. The bulk of the outflows came from Fidelity's FETH, which saw outflows of $31.62 million, while Grayscale's ETHE saw outflows of $16.60 million.

Only BlackRock's ETHA saw inflows, with the fund reporting inflows of $8.43 million.

The ether ETFs had a total value traded of $494.51 million, and net assets stood at $8.74 billion.

The divergence between bitcoin and ether flows highlights the market's optimism in BTC, which is used to hedge against inflation, and the more volatile sentiment towards ETH, which is seen as a more speculative asset.

The institutional interest in bitcoin ETFs is evident in the consistent inflows into the funds, even as other cryptocurrencies have faced more volatility. This trend is likely to continue as long as the macroeconomic environment remains supportive and the interest in digital assets remains high.