Bitcoin ETFs Bounce Back in a Big Way as Investors Expect Rate Cuts

Money flowed back into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other crypto investment vehicles last week—just in time for the Federal Reserve’s key meeting tomorrow. 

Data from Jersey-based digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday that a total of $436 million hit funds that give exposure to cryptocurrencies. This came after a period of outflows where investors cashed out $1.2 billion in a bearish trend, including $726 million the week before last.

Most of that money that flowed in last week was focused on the new American Bitcoin ETFs, CoinShares said. Top asset managers such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale released the products in January after getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The funds had a wildly popular launch, taking in billions of dollars in investor cash, but recently have experienced outflows as markets ponder American central bank policy and whether or not to continue buying “risk-on” assets.

“We believe the surge in inflows towards the end of the week was driven by a significant shift in market expectations for a potential 50 basis point interest rate cut on September 18th, following comments from former NY Fed President Bill Dudley,” the report said. 

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet tomorrow, and then on Wednesday reveal their strategy for interest rates in the U.S., which stand at a 23-year high. Markets are pricing in a cut after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last month that it was time for such a move—but it isn’t clear just how big the cut will be. 

Dudley said last week that a half-point rate cut could happen. The bigger the cut, the more likely “risk-on” assets—investments which are more volatile—like Bitcoin could appeal to investors. 

CoinShares added in its report that products giving investors exposure to Ethereum, the second-biggest digital asset by market cap, “continued to face challenges,” with investors cashing out $19 million last week. 

The SEC approved Ethereum ETFs for American investors in May, and they began trading in late July—but the funds have not proven to be quite as popular as their Bitcoin counterparts. 

CoinShares added that investors put $3.8 million into funds giving exposure to Solana, the firth biggest digital coin, for the fourth straight week of positive flows.

Edited by Andrew Hayward