Bitcoin Defies Thursday's Record ETF Outflows, Surges Above $98,000

Bitcoin BTC/USD is up 2% on Friday, rallying after record net outflows from U.S. spot ETFs the day prior.

What Happened: The world’s largest cryptocurrency has reclaimed the $98,000 level. At last check Friday, it’s trading around $98,273.

The surge coincides with rising stock markets, boosted by the ISM manufacturing PMI beating its December expectations.

Bitcoin bounced back after BlackRock‘s iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT experienced a record-high outflow on Thursday. According to data from SoSoValue, IBIT saw $333 million worth of outflows on Jan. 2, marking the highest single-day outflow for the Bitcoin ETF since its inception.

Alex Obchakevich, founder of Obchakevich Research, attributed this significant outflow to profit-taking by investors at the start of 2025, telling Decrypt, “At the end of the year, investors and funds often review their investment portfolios, which can lead to the sale of some shares.”

The outflow from IBIT contributed to a broader trend among U.S.-based Bitcoin spot ETFs, which collectively saw $248 million in withdrawals on the same day.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC was the second-largest loser, with $23 million in outflows.

Why It Matters: Profit-taking notwithstanding, IBIT has seen remarkable growth in 2024, having surpassed $50 billion in assets under management in just 228 days.

Sentiment in the cryptocurrency community remains upbeat.

Alex Krüger of Asgard Markets shared bullish commentary on Thursday on X, saying, Bitcoin will have “another good year” and predicting February to be “the best performing month.”

My prediction for 2025 is simple: higher. Nothing has fundamentally changed since Nov/5. Bitcoin will have another good year. February will be the best performing month, with the recent Fed hawkishness still holding broader markets back short-term. Performance dispersion across… pic.twitter.com/zZm2o69I38
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) January 2, 2025

The trader expects slight short-term headwinds in light of a more-than-expected hawkish Federal Reserve but forecasts “the Fed will swing back dovish sometime in Q1.”

The price surge caps Bitcoin’s sixteenth year in existence, marking the highest-ever historical price on “Bitcoin’s birthday” since the cryptocurrency’s inception.

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