Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin is closing in on $67,000 again as ether fell to $3,400.

• Spot ether ETFs saw $1 billion worth of trading and $107 million of inflows on their first day.

• Spot bitcoin ETF flows turned negative for the first time since July 3.

• The Mt. Gox estate has sent another $335.8 million worth of bitcoin to Bitstamp, though distributions are unlikely to drag the price of bitcoin.

Bitcoin (BTC) is closing in on $67,000 once again as ether (ETH) is trading around $3,400. Notably, ether is down 1.6% Wednesday, a day after the launch of spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in U.S. markets.

The spot ether ETFs saw more than $1 billion worth of trading on their first day, which led to $107 million of inflows into these new products. For now, outflows from the preexisting Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) are likely to limit the combined net inflows for the spot ether ETFs.

While the spot bitcoin ETFs had been experiencing strong inflows in recent weeks, yesterday saw the first day of outflows since July 3, according to Farside Investors. Despite the net outflows for these products in aggregate, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) still saw $71.9 million of inflows. May 1 remains the only time IBIT experienced a day of net outflows in its short history.

Bitcoin Price Little Affected by Mt. Gox Distributions

Funds from the estate of failed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox are still being distributed to former customers, with blockchain analytics provider Arkham Intelligence indicating $335.8 million worth of bitcoin was sent to Bitstamp this morning.

Kraken Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Ripley announced that the exchange has distributed funds from the Mt. Gox estate to creditors. The Mt. Gox estate had previously sent Kraken more than $3 billion worth of bitcoin.

That said, some analysts say selling pressure from these distributions is expected to be limited and not have the sort of negative impact on the bitcoin price that was seen with the German government's selling of $2.4 billion worth of bitcoin in one week earlier this month. The Mt. Gox estate still holds more than $5 billion worth of bitcoin.

Bitcoin-Related Stocks

Coinbase (COIN) stock was down 1.1% as of 1:45 p.m. ET Wednesday, despite being named custodian for eight out of the nine spot ether ETFs that began trading yesterday.

Bitcoin-focused financial services provider Fold announced a deal to go public later in the year via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

Riot Platforms (RIOT) announced the acquisition of bitcoin miner Block Mining Tuesday in an effort to expand Riot's own mining capacity. Riot shares were trading 1.2% higher.

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