Global X Withdraws Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF
Global X is no longer interested in listing a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. It withdrew application at a time when the approved ETFs are finally finding their feet.
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Global X is no longer interested in listing a spot in a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The securities and exchange confirmed that Cboe BZX exchange withdrew the application for the proposed rule change.
In a notice by the agency, it said the exchange officially withdrew the application on January 26. Global X applied for the listing and trading its Bitcoin shares in August 2023, but the SEC extended making decisions on the application twice. It also did not make the final list of approvals due to not updating its documents.
The decision to withdraw comes as a surprise, given that the SEC had approved eleven applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs only three weeks ago. However, Global X might also be pulling out due to competition among the current spot Bitcoin ETFs and the difficulty a new entrant might face in attracting capital.
Meanwhile, there are still firms waiting to become spot Bitcoin ETF issuers. These include 7RCC and Pando Assets management. The two filed their applications in December 2023 and have not received approval from the SEC.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Performance
It has been a mixed bag since the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF. While the nine new ETFs have seen significant inflows, outflows from Grayscale GBTC have left the new products in limbo. The outflows from GBTC are mostly a result of its high fees, but it has affected the price of Bitcoin and overshadowed the impressive performance of the other ETFs.
However, the days of outflows exceeding inflows might soon be over as the rate of GBTC outflow continues to reduce. According to data from Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, net inflows for Day 13 of ETF trading were over $247 million. This happened despite GBTC recording about $221 million in outflows.
Total outflows from GBTC since the ETFs started trading have now exceeded $5 billion. By comparison, other ETFs are seeing their assets under management increase. BlackRock IBIT and Fidelity FBTC now have more than $2 billion each in AUM.
Bitcoin Slowly Recovering
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues its rebound and has gained more than 9% in the last seven days. The flagship asset struggled in the early days of ETF trading, crashing as low as $38k. This was mostly due to bearish sentiments surrounding the sell-off of Bitcoin by Grayscale and other holders.
However, the digital asset has had a resurgence in the past week just as the spot ETFs bleeding has tapered off. It is now trading above $43,000 and looks poised to increase further.
Interestingly, whales acquired $3 billion in Bitcoin in January when the asset was under selling pressure. Intotheblock data shows that the amount of Bitcoin in wallets holding at least 1000 BTC increased by approximately 76,000 BTC this month to almost 7.8 million BTC.
