Bitcoin ETF activity to remain robust until the halving: Santiment

It is a “likely foregone conclusion” that high Bitcoin ETF activity will continue leading up to the halving, said Santiment.

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are likely to remain high until the Bitcoin halving later this month, according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment.

The blockchain data firm observed that Bitcoin ETF volume hasn’t slowed since the asset hit an all-time high in mid-March, adding that “trader activity is still notably higher than the turning point that began in late February after an influx of individual trading began” in a post on X on April 8.

Santiment went on to predict that it is a “likely foregone conclusion” that the high ETF activity will continue leading up to the Bitcoin halving in around two weeks.

The Bitcoin halving event, which happens every four years, is predicted to occur on April 20.

There has been $3.19 billion in daily volume between the top seven ETFs, according to Santiment. However, “it will be interesting to see whether a drop-off in ETF volume and on-chain volume will occur directly afterward,” it added.

Lucas Kiely of Yield App recently suggested that the accumulation of Bitcoin via ETFs could reduce the likelihood of large swings after the halving.

Spot Bitcoin ETF volumes soared to $111 billion in March, almost tripling the volume for the previous month, which highlights consistent interest in the products.

Bitcoin ETF inflows picked up at the end of last week, with two days of more than $200 million in net inflow on April 4 and 5, according to Farside Investors.

That followed a couple of low days earlier in the week with an $85.7 million outflow on April 1 in what appeared to be a trend reversal from a strong few days in late March.

Grayscale continues to drag the aggregate figures down with consistent outflows every trading day since it converted to a spot ETF in mid-January. Last week, the firm’s GBTC fund shed $738 million bringing the total amount of BTC outflow from the product to 294,313 BTC.

Related: Bitcoin ETFs set for ‘even bigger wave’ in next few months: Bitwise

Industry executives remain confident, however. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicted that the total crypto market value will double this year, primarily driven by spot ETFs and the Bitcoin halving.

“I’m very optimistic. I think the macro trends, the big picture things like the ETFs, they’re driving for the first time real institutional money,” he told CNBC on April 7.