Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs Are Mixed After Trump Remarks

The Republican presidential nominee said at a conference that he wanted to create a "strategic national bitcoin reserve."

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Spot bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were mixed to kick off the week as macroeconomic uncertainties, including the timing of U.S. central bank interest rate cuts, eclipsed the boost digital investments received from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's pro-crypto remarks over the weekend. 

The BlackRock Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), and Fidelity Wise Origin Fund (FBTC)—the three largest bitcoin-based funds by assets under management—were all off at least a percentage point in early Monday afternoon trading. 

Still, those issuers' six-day-old Ethereum funds rose yesterday, dovetailing with their respective underlying assets. 

etf.com: IBIT three-month flows

Bitcoin was down about a percentage point over the past 24 hours, while ether, the token of the Ethereum blockchain, surged by roughly 1.5%. 

Both assets jumped over the weekend after Trump told some 3,000 crypto enthusiasts at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville that he would create a "strategic national bitcoin reserve." The former president also said he that he would fire SEC Chair and crypto skeptic Gary Gensler to enthusiastic applause.

"I didn't know he was so unpopular," Trump quipped about Gensler, whose concerns about fraud and investor protections have rankled the crypto industry. 

The Federal Reserve begins its August two-day meeting today but is not expected to lower interest rates until at least September. Some market observers fearful that the economy is headed to a recession have hotly criticized the Fed's inaction this summer. 

Spot Bitcoin vs Ethereum ETF Flows

Spot bitcoin ETFs began trading on Jan. 11, a day after the SEC greenlit the funds ending a nearly decade-long saga of rejections, have generated more than $120 million in inflows over the past three trading days, according to data from U.K. asset manager Farside Investors. That represented a cooling from earlier in July when the funds received more $3 billion in net inflows over one roughly three-week period.

The nine Ethereum funds, which received much-anticipated SEC approval on July 22, lost about $341 million in outflows in their four full trading days. That total is skewed by about $1.5 billion in outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), a conversion from an existing trust which charges a 2.5% fee, the highest in the group. 

"While we expect an eventual breakout, Bitcoin will likely need 'macro' help in the form of projected Fed rate cuts or another dose of lower inflation," wrote crypto-focused 10X Research in a note Monday.

James Rubin is a contributing editor for etf.com, where he produces the Morning Exchange and Weekly Exchange newsletters. A longtime financial writer, editor and book author, he formerly held positions as a news and markets editor for the Americas at CoinDesk, where he focussed on cryptocurrencies. 

He provided editorial guidance for a Wall Street Journal best-selling book on Bitcoin and oversaw a startup newsroom focused on digital financial assets. He has edited for TheStreet and Unchained, where he wrote daily news stories about the trial of fallen crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried. His writing has also appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes.com, AdWeek, Bankrate, The Financial Brand and The Wall Street Journal. He has also written for Forbes Insights and the Economist Intelligence Unit, including papers presented at World Economic Forums in Davos and Mumbai. 

James is the co-author of The Urban Cyclist’s Survival Guide (Triumph Books) and has been interviewed about bike safety on a number of NPR affiliates. In a prior career, Rubin was a world-ranked tennis player, once competing in Wimbledon’s qualifying rounds. He speaks fluent German and is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and received his BA at Columbia University.

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