Investors were surprisingly quick to dump U.S.-based spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Wednesday, even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dismissed the possibility of a rate hike.
US Bitcoin ETFs Record $563 Million Outflow Despite FED Chairman Powell Rejecting Interest Rate Hike
The 11 ETFs experienced a total net outflow of $563.7 million, marking the largest outflow since the funds began trading on January 11.
According to data from Farside Investors and CoinGlass, approximately $1.2 billion has been withdrawn from ETFs since April 24, continuing a five-day losing streak.
Fidelity's FBTC led the outflows on Wednesday with $191.1 million in withdrawals.
This development could be cause for concern for bulls, as FBTC and BlackRock's IBIT steadily attracted funds in the first quarter, offsetting regular large outflows from the relatively costly Grayscale ETF (GBTC).
GBTC had the second biggest exit on Wednesday with $167.4 million, followed by ARKB with $98.1 million and IBIT with $36.9 million.
These outflows came despite Powell's clearly dovish approach, which typically favors risk assets including Bitcoin. As expected, the FED kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged between 5.25% and 5.5%.
While Powell reassured that the economy is solid enough not to require a rate cut, he also eased fears of new interest rate hikes or liquidity tightening caused by recent disappointing inflation numbers.
*This is not investment advice.