TechFlow news: Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said on X that technically, this isn't an ETF-led sell-off. ETFs are net buyers of Bitcoin (including GBTC).
This is a sell-off driven by ETF expectations. The market front-ran the ETF approval with heavy inflows into spot Bitcoin and Bitcoin derivatives. It anticipated net ETF inflows larger than what we've seen so far, and is now unwinding those positions.
Just as the market overestimated the short-term impact of ETFs, it underestimated their long-term impact.
In addition, Hougan shared and endorsed the view of David Lawant, Head of Research at FalconX: "The two main drivers of net flows in spot BTC ETFs—over $5 billion outflow from GBTC and hundreds of millions daily inflow into IBIT and FBTC—will both gradually diminish. While GBTC dominates in the short term, IBIT and FBTC will take the lead in the medium to long term."
