Friday was a tough day for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The second week of trading for spot Ethereum ETFs saw more money being taken out than invested, possibly due to uncertainty in the US economy.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs also ended the week poorly, with nearly $240 million withdrawn.
Data from FarSide revealed that Fidelity’s FBTC experienced the largest daily outflow on August 2, losing over $104 million and bringing its total assets under management (AUM) down to $9.8 billion.
Ark Invest’s ARKB had $87.7 million in outflows, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC with $45.9 million. BITB and HODL also saw losses, with $29.4 million and $23 million withdrawn, respectively.
In contrast, BlackRock’s IBIT was the only fund that saw inflows, gaining just under $43 million and increasing its total AUM to almost $21 billion.
Overall, the week was negative, with total withdrawals from all spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeding $80 million.
For spot Ethereum ETFs, Grayscale’s ETHE led with $61.4 million in outflows. Minor inflows into Fidelity’s FETH ($6 million) and Franklin’s EZET ($1.1 million) couldn’t counterbalance ETHE’s significant withdrawals.
On a weekly scale, Ethereum ETFs saw substantial withdrawals of nearly $170 million.
This all happened alongside a weak job report in the US, which showed an increase in unemployment from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July, the highest rate since October 2021.
Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates immediately instead of waiting six weeks. The Bank of England had already lowered interest rates earlier in the week, but the Federal Reserve has delayed doing so, with most expecting a cut in September.
Most riskier assets reacted to the weak economic data with price drops. Wall Street saw 2-4% daily declines in major indexes, while the more volatile crypto market experienced even sharper declines.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell from over $65,000 to a multi-week low of $60,500 before recovering slightly. Altcoins were hit even harder.
