Recent data from CryptoQuant reveals a significant withdrawal of over 797,000 Ether, totaling $3.02 billion, from exchanges between May 23 and June 2.
This sharp decrease in exchange reserves suggests a growing trend among investors to move their assets to self-custody, indicating a shift towards long-term holding strategies. Glassnode data corroborates this, showing that the proportion of circulating Ether supply held on exchanges has plummeted to a record low of just 10.6%. This alleviates immediate sell pressure on the market and reflects a shift towards more conservative investment approaches.
On another front, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from BlackRock and Fidelity have made news in the market. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, these ETFs have accounted for a substantial portion of the issuers’ total ETF inflows this year, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) seeing $16.6 billion and $8.9 billion in inflows respectively since their launch nearly five months ago.
While these ETFs have seen impressive inflows, Vanguard, despite not offering any Bitcoin ETFs, leads the pack with $102.8 billion in total ETF inflows so far in 2024. This dominance highlights the diversified investment landscape within the ETF market.
BlackRock’s IBIT recently surpassed the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as the world’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF, further solidifying its position in the market. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETF flows have stabilized in recent weeks, with many issuers experiencing days of zero inflows and outflows.
Despite this, Bitcoin investment products excluding Grayscale continue to see steady inflows, highlighting sustained investor interest in the cryptocurrency market.
