Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen outflows of more than $800 million so far in April amid ongoing market volatility caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy.
The outflows in April come after about a dozen U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a record $3.56 billion in outflows during February and $767 million in March of this year. The outflows from Bitcoin ETFs have largely been due to selling by institutional investors that have shifted capital into the bond market.
Three-month Treasury bills auctioned on April 14 drew strong demand from institutional investors, according to data from CME. The strong flows into bonds show that institutions still view the U.S. debt market as a safe haven during times of volatility and uncertainty, say analysts.
Flight to Safety
President Trump’s shifting tariff policies and trade war with China has increased the level of uncertainty in the stock market to the point where many investors are shunning risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. At the same time, U.S. recession odds have increased above 50% on major online betting platforms, with elevated Japanese bond yields further complicating matters for risk assets.
In the current environment, many institutional investors are seeking to protect capital by placing it in safe havens such as bonds and gold, which is trading near an all-time high. Bitcoin’s price is currently hovering around $84,800, having fallen 10% this year.
Is BTC a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on Bitcoin, so we’ll look at the cryptocurrency’s three-month performance instead. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has declined 14.53% in the last 12 weeks.
