Canadian Bitcoin ETFs See Net Outflows of C$578 Million This Year

Crypto ETFs are the only ETF category in Canada to see outflows this year, while US Bitcoin ETFs have seen a record $36 billion in inflows through Dec. 16.

Canadian Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen net outflows of C$578 million ($405 million) so far this year through Dec. 13, according to data compiled by TD Securities Inc.

This makes crypto ETFs the only ETF category in Canada to see outflows this year, even as US Bitcoin ETFs have seen a record $36 billion in inflows through Dec. 16. Bitcoin has surged more than 150% this year.

Some American investors who had invested in Canadian Bitcoin ETFs have now switched to US-based ones, according to Vlad Tasevski, head of asset management at Purpose Investments Inc., which had the world’s first Bitcoin ETF.

"Larger US and international investors who actually prefer now to use the US ETFs because those are the markets where they predominantly trade all their other exposures," Tasevski said. "But that would've been expected because in the end we know that the US are the biggest global capital markets, that's where most of the liquidity is."

While the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (ticker BTCC) has seen outflows from international investors this year, Tasevski said that there has been a slight net increase in flows from Canadian investors, who make up over 80% of the customer base for the roughly C$830 million fund.