Bitcoin’s sharp decline over the weekend has likely pushed the aggregate investor position in the largest spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) into negative territory, underscoring the severity of the recent downturn.
Elliott shared a chart tracking aggregate, dollar-weighted investor returns, showing cumulative gains slipping slightly into negative territory as of late January.
The data suggest that while early IBIT investors may still be in profit, heavier inflows at higher price levels have pulled overall dollar-weighted returns below zero. In effect, cumulative gains since the fund’s launch have now been erased on a dollar-weighted basis.
By comparison, IBIT’s dollar-weighted returns peaked at roughly $35 billion in October, when Bitcoin was trading at record highs.
Bitcoin ETF outflows accelerate
In the week to Jan. 25, digital asset investment products recorded nearly $1.1 billion in outflows from Bitcoin funds alone, while total crypto fund outflows reached $1.73 billion — the largest weekly withdrawal since mid-November, according to CoinShares. The outflows were heavily concentrated in the United States.
“Dwindling expectations for interest rate cuts, negative price momentum and disappointment that digital assets have not participated in the debasement trade yet have likely fuelled these outflows,” CoinShares said.
The “debasement trade” refers to positioning in assets expected to preserve value amid inflation and currency dilution. Bitcoin was widely seen as a candidate for that role because of its fixed supply and monetary design.
