Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have experienced nearly unprecedented withdrawals amid uncertainty regarding whom will assume the presidency of the United States.
Before electors even arrived at the polls, it seems that traditional investors were seeking to mitigate risk. Election day has arrived. There was a substantial outflow of $541 million from U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Monday.
This election-related outflow is virtually the greatest outflow the Bitcoin ETFs have experienced since their inception, according to CoinGlass data. The only outflow that has surpassed it is $563.7 on May 1, which occurred during a significant decline in the Bitcoin price.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was the sole fund to experience inflows on Monday, attracting $38.4 million, while all other funds either remained stagnant or experienced substantial outflows.
One of the most notable withdrawals was $138.3 million by the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), while the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) experienced losses of $138.3 million and $79.9 million, respectively.
This occurrence is most likely attributable to the forthcoming U.S. Presidential election on Tuesday. There has been a long-standing perception that Donald Trump is the “crypto candidate” as a result of his vocal advocacy for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. Consequently, JPMorgan anticipated that Bitcoin would experience an increase in value in the event that the Republican candidate emerged victorious.
This prediction is based on Kamala Harris’ relatively passive posture on cryptocurrency, which primarily involves her assertion that she would promote blockchain innovation and regulate the technology to safeguard Black males. This has caused speculators to conclude that she would be a less favorable alternative for the orange coin than Trump.
Nevertheless, VanEck analysts conjectured that her tenure as President could potentially devalue the U.S. dollar and accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin, which would be beneficial for the price of the leading cryptocurrency.
Uncertainty is also evident in the price of Bitcoin, which has experienced a 3.4% decline over the past week, while Ethereum has experienced an even more significant 7.3% decline.
At the time of writing, Polymarket, a prediction market, projects that Trump has a 62% chance of victory, with Harris trailing at 38%.
Nevertheless, this is in direct opposition to a substantial Iowa poll conducted by seasoned pollster Ann Selzer, which favored Harris over Trump by three percentage points. This could have catastrophic consequences for the Republicans if it is accurate. The news of this development resulted in a significant decrease in Polymarket odds, a decline in Bitcoin, and a total of $315 million in crypto liquidations within 24 hours.
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