Billions in GBTC outflows to finally ‘settle within the next week or two,’ fund manager says

Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has bled around $13 billion since its January launch, according to BitMEX Research.

The haemorrhage intensified this week as its flagship GBTC fund saw over $1 billion in outflows on Monday and Tuesday.

But that may be about to change.

GBTC’s outflows “should settle within the next week or two,” Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital, told DL News.

Outflows settling would be good news for Grayscale. It is under pressure from the nine other spot Bitcoin ETFs that launched two months ago.

Rival funds run by Wall Street heavyweights like BlackRock and Fidelity have challenged the crypto native firm by offering lower fees.

GBTC investors pay a 1.5% management fee, while other issuers, such as BlackRock, charge 0.25%.

Grayscale has steadfastly rejected calls by the likes of JPMorgan to lower its fees.

Yet, on Monday, Grayscale’s CEO Michael Sonnenshein softened the company’s stance, telling CNBC that fees will come down over time.

Last week, Grayscale filed for a new spot in Bitcoin ETF, which would have a lower fee.

The initiative was a response to the “exodus,” Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs had consecutive net outflows of over $480.6 million in total on Monday and Tuesday, according to BitMEX Research.

Grayscale Investments’ increased outflows and “lower demand for the new ETFs in the US,” contributed to the two days of outflows, James Butterfill, head of research at digital asset manager CoinShares, said on LinkedIn.

Sebastian Sinclair is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Contact Seb at sebastian@dlnews.com.