April 2022 to See Record Cash Fleeing Crypto ETFs As Interest Wanes

The broader cryptocurrency market has remained largely choppy for the month of April 2022 as Bitcoin (BTC) and the overall crypto market are down by 10% each. As per the latest Bloomberg report, the investors’ interest in Bitcoin is waning.

This is clear from a number of factors such as a drop in online searches, fewer crypto transactions, and crypto funds seeing massive outflows. On the other hand, analysis from asset management giant UBS shows that April is set to record the largest crypto-ETF outflows with investors pulling out nearly half-a-billion dollars this month.

The Bloomberg report notes that since the end of March 2022, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF has alone registered outflows of $220 million. Speaking to Bloomberg, James Malcolm, head of foreign exchange and crypto research at UBS said:

“The vast majority of the population seem to have little interest in crypto because it’s too complicated, too volatile, too strange. So in a sense, we’re stuck at the moment.”

Crypto ETF Outflows Amid Fed’s Hawkish Stand

Fed’s aggressive stance towards controlling soaring inflation has cast a shadow on fund flows into risk-ON assets and crypto ETFs. Bitcoin is still trading 40% lower from its all-time high of $69,000 and shall continue that way.

As interest remains muted, the aggregated trading volumes across crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase have fallen. Besides, the social conversation and Google searches for “Bitcoin” have also dropped.

UBS’s Malcolm says that for the interest to pick up again, industry participants are waiting for regulatory clarity to emerge. However, if the prices start to rally again, investors could return once again, he adds.

Malcolm said: “It either needs new people or it needs existing players to dedicate an increasingly large slice of resources to the industry”.

On the other hand, Analysts at Blockforce Capital say that a massive number of Bitcoins have moved into cold storage. The growth of BTC’s illiquid supply has accelerated which could be a positive sign. In a note to investors, the analysts wrote:

“We have only seen this level of outflow from exchanges four previous times since the start of 2018. Three of those instances correlated with a sharp upward movement in price not too long after.”