Bitcoin drops 3.5% to $41K as spot Bitcoin ETF hype fades, GBTC outflows continue Bitcoin drops 3.5% to $41K as spot Bitcoin ETF hype fades, GBTC outflows continue
BTC is currently at its lowest price since Dec. 18, 2023.
2 min read
Updated: Jan. 18, 2024 at 11:03 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Bitcoin (BTC) saw noticeable losses on Jan. 18, one week after the first Bitcoin spot ETFs began to trade on various exchanges.
BTC was worth $41,107 and reported a market cap of $805.8 billion at 9:50 p.m. UTC on Thursday. That decline marks a 3.5% loss over 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s current price of $41,107 represents a one-month low, as the cryptocurrency was last priced at $40,893 on Dec. 18, 2023.
The crypto market saw comparable losses, as it was down 3.7% over 24 hours. Losses extended to other top ten assets: Avalanche (AVAX) was down 7.8%, Solana (SOL) was down 7.4%, Cardano (ADA) was down 4.8%, Ethereum (ETH) was down 2.6%, and XRP was down 3.4%.
GBTC outflows, investor sentiment at play
Though the causes of BTC’s latest losses are uncertain, some changes are likely related to outflows or redemptions affecting Grayscale’s GBTC ETF.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas provided data on Jan. 18 indicating that nine spot Bitcoin funds have seen $2.8 billion in inflows so far, but that this activity is offset by GBTC’s $1.6 billion outflows for $1.2 billion in inflows overall.
Balchunas asserted that spot Bitcoin ETFs are gradually “growing beyond GBTC bleeds.” Still, any Bitcoin redeemed from GBTC that remains in circulation increases the amount available on the market, which may affect prices.
Investor sentiment and activity — declining interest in Bitcoin following initial ETF hype — may also impact market conditions. Bryce Elder, a journalist for the Financial Times, called GBTC outflows a “neater explanation” but acknowledged the possible impact of investor activity. He wrote:
“Bitcoin’s [downward price] slide is inconvenient for crypto promoters who said spot ETFs would be crypto’s watershed moment, though they have plenty of tradfi-proven excuses: profit taking, better to travel than arrive, buy the rumour sell the news, etc.”
Other recent events concerning Bitcoin and crypto may have also affected investor sentiment. Notable developments over the past day include VanEck’s decision to terminate its Bitcoin futures ETF and Donald Trump’s opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
Bitcoin Market Data
At the time of press 11:03 pm UTC on Jan. 18, 2024, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the price is down 3.16% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $809.8 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $25.19 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Crypto Market Summary
At the time of press 11:03 pm UTC on Jan. 18, 2024, the total crypto market is valued at at $1.63 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $63.05 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 49.59%. Learn more about the crypto market ›
Author 
Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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