United States-approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) have started the new business year in a bearish mode. Concluding its first day on January 2, 2025, the funds lost $247.8 million. According to ETF tracker Farside, leading the red business day was BlackRock’s Bitcoin Trust, IBIT, which recorded an outflow of $332.6 million on Thursday.
Amid the bearish day, bitcoin’s price soared by about 3.6% to reach $97,850, signaling renewed investor’s interest as they expect a massive uptrend in Q1 2025.
Historic $333 Million Outflow
Following the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs last year, IBIT attracted many investors and has been at the forefront of several historic inflow days. In one instance, it took in a record-breaking $1.1 billion. Surprisingly, it now spearheads an outflow day, catching investors off guard.
Thursday’s sell-off marked IBIT’s worst business day in history. It recorded more outflows than Grayscale’s GBTC, which lost only $23.1 million.
Four ETFs were dormant on the same business day, while the other four recorded inflows. Bitwise BITB was the day’s hero with a $48.3 million inflow and was seconded by Fidelity’s FBTC, which took in $48.3 million from bullish investors. Investors bought about $16.5 million worth of Ark 21shares ARKB, while Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin Trust, BTC, took in $6.9 million.
BTC to Reclaim $100k
The past 15 days have not been rosy for Bitcoin(BTC), the world’s leading cryptocurrency. The coin struggles to find a position above the $100,000 mark after dropping from its new all-time high of $108,350 last month.
At press time, the apex coin had broken the $96,000 resistance level and stood around $96,600. It had formed many bullish candles in preparation for a price rebound.
Famous bitcoin investors and analysts have predicted a massive pump for BTC in the first quarter of this new year, 2025. Bernstein analysts have speculated that there will be a more than 80% increase in the cryptocurrency from its current position to $180,000 this year. Similarly, ETF issuer Franklin Templeton predicted that many countries will adopt bitcoin as a reserve asset this year, boosting the market capitalization and price of the crypto.
Meanwhile, if U.S Republican Donald Trump steps in as president on January 20, he plans to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve for America.
