Gold ETFs have seen substantial outflows since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 11. Interest in Bitcoin ETFs continues to be strong. This does not necessarily mean that the money withdrawn from gold is moving to Bitcoin ETFs, but the timing of the outflows following the approval of Bitcoin ETFs has led to various interpretations.
Significant Withdrawals from Gold ETFs
Since the new spot Bitcoin ETFs went live on January 11, they have received billions in net inflows, while significant amounts of money have been withdrawn from gold ETFs. The two largest gold ETFs by managed assets, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) with $58 billion at the start of 2024 and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) with $26 billion, have experienced net outflows.
According to ETFcom, from January 11 to February 14, investors withdrew approximately $2.6 billion from GLD and about $507 million from IAU. This contrasts with the previous year when both funds saw solid inflows, with GLD receiving about $241 million and IAU about $86 million. Out of 14 gold ETFs monitored by ETFcom, eleven have seen net outflows since the beginning of the year.
Massive Inflows into Spot Bitcoin ETFs
The two largest new spot Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, have gathered just under $10 billion in assets since their launch in January. Including outflows from GBTC, spot ETFs as a group have reached a massive figure of approximately $5 billion in net inflows.
Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the situation in a post on X:
“There is quite a bad scene in the gold ETFs category right now. To be sure, I don’t think people are migrating to Bitcoin ETFs.”
Bitcoin is often compared to gold as both are seen as safe-haven assets by investors looking to protect their money from inflation and are beyond government reach. Bitcoin, still a relatively new form of money, especially compared to gold which has been around for over 5,000 years, made it difficult for people outside the crypto industry to invest in Bitcoin. However, it seems the landscape has changed with the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
