Nearly all U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted net negative performances in March, reflecting a broader downturn in the cryptocurrency market. Analysts expect Bitcoin’s bearish phase to persist for up to a year. Despite the downward trend, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) was the only fund to record net positive inflows, defying the market slump.
According to data from Farside Investors, the month’s net outflows for spot Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed inflows. The hardest-hit fund was BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which saw outflows of $552 million against just $84.6 million in inflows.
Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) also faced significant losses, with over $517 million in outflows and only $136.5 million in inflows. Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) reported zero inflows and outflows exceeding $200 million.
Amid the losses, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) was an exception. The fund recorded over $55 million in net inflows for March and saw no outflows, positioning itself as the only spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. to post positive performance during the month.
$1.6 Billion in Outflows from Bitcoin ETFs
The overall market sentiment has weighed heavily on Bitcoin investment products. In the first 17 days of March, spot Bitcoin ETFs registered outflows exceeding $1.6 billion. Inflows for the same period amounted to just $351 million, leaving the net outflow at nearly $1.3 billion.
BlackRock and Fidelity bore the brunt of these losses, but outflows were widespread across other funds. Ark’s ARKB ETF, which initially showed inflows of $193.7 million on February 28, later suffered losses of $160 million on March 7.
Grayscale’s primary Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) remained under pressure, reporting multiple days of substantial outflows without any inflows to counterbalance the losses.
Spot Ethereum ETFs faced similar struggles throughout March. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) led the outflows, shedding $126 million without recording any monthly inflows. Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) experienced outflows of $73 million against only $21 million in inflows.
The only positive day for Ether ETFs was March 4, when inflows hit $14 million. However, subsequent outflows pushed total losses beyond $300 million for the month.
The ETF struggles align with growing bearish sentiment in the broader cryptocurrency market.
On March 18, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju declared that the “Bitcoin bull cycle is over.” He suggested that market conditions indicate up to 12 months of bearish or sideways movement. Ju pointed to on-chain metrics showing increased selling pressure from new whales, signaling declining liquidity in the market.
