Institutional Inflows to Bitcoin ETFs Show Promising Indicator, Says Coinbase Report

Coinbase has reported that updated 2Q 2024 13-F filings indicate a notable increase in institutional inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which the company views as a “promising indicator” for the Bitcoin market. The 13-F filings, released on August 14, reveal that institutional ownership of these ETFs grew from 21.4% to 24.0% between Q1 and Q2 of 2024.

Significantly, the proportion of ETF shares held by the “investment advisor” category rose from 29.8% to 36.6%, signaling heightened interest from wealth management firms. Notable new holders include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who added $412 million and $188 million worth of shares, respectively. Despite Bitcoin’s price drop during the quarter, net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $2.4 billion.

“The ETF complex saw net inflows of $2.4B during this period, although the total AUM of spot bitcoin ETFs dropped from $59.3B to $51.8B (due to BTC dropping from $70,700 to $60,300),” Coinbase reported. “We think that the continued ETF inflows during bitcoin’s underperformance may be a promising indicator of sustained interest in crypto from the new pools of capital that the ETFs give access to.”

Coinbase expects this growth to continue as more brokerage houses complete their due diligence on Bitcoin ETFs, particularly among registered investment advisors. However, the report also notes that short-term inflows may be tempered by seasonal factors and current market volatility.

“In our view, it’s likely that we will see the proportion of investment advisor holdings continue to increase as more brokerage houses complete their due diligence on these funds,” the report stated. “We may not immediately see large inflows emerge in the short-term, as soliciting clients may be harder to do during the summer, when more people are on vacation, liquidity tends to be thinner and the price action might be choppy.”