According to data from Farside Investors, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced almost $370 million in net outflows on March 7. This reaction was seemingly in response to former President Donald Trump’s proposal for a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the US.
These outflows suggest a cautious stance among institutional investors towards Bitcoin (BTCUSD) exposure after Trump’s executive order on March 6. The order established a national Bitcoin reserve but did not mandate government Bitcoin purchases, leaving traders feeling let down.
“Though Trump’s executive order acknowledges the role of crypto in the global financial landscape, the absence of new purchase commitments has left the markets disillusioned,” Alvin Kan, COO at Bitget Wallet, explained to Cointelegraph.
On March 6, Trump signed an executive order to form a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile to hold other cryptocurrencies. Both will primarily contain assets obtained through law enforcement activities and other legal means.
The order encourages officials to “develop budget-neutral strategies for obtaining more bitcoin, as long as these strategies do not burden American taxpayers with additional costs.”
“The limited nature of this order fell short of market expectations, leading to significant disappointment,” Wanchain CEO Temujin Louie informed Cointelegraph. However, Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar, suggested that the “order opens the door for the acquisition of more Bitcoin, provided it doesn’t burden taxpayers. This could introduce a new buyer into the Bitcoin ecosystem.”
Bitcoin’s spot price fell by more than 2% on March 7, as per Google Finance data. Concurrently, most of Bitcoin’s forward curve, comprising staggered futures contracts, saw declines of over 2%, according to CME data, the largest derivatives exchange in the US.
Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at asset management firm Bitwise, stated in an X post that the “US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve implies that… other nations will purchase Bitcoin… [and] financial institutions have no reason not to increase BTC allocations.”
The selloff is merely “a classic buy the rumor, sell the news event,” according to Austin Arnold, Altcoin Daily co-founder. “In the long run, this is bullish.”
