Five Things to Know in Crypto This Week: Spot ETF Inflows and the US Economy #NewsETFs

US BTC-Spot ETF Market Records Weekly Outflows

In the week ending August 16, the US BTC-spot ETF market saw total net inflows of $12.9 million, excluding flow data for iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). The US BTC-spot ETF market saw net outflows of $167.0 million the previous week.

According to Farside Investors:

• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) reported net outflows of $195.2 million in the week ending August 16 (previous week: -$391.8 million).
• ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) reported net inflows of $35.9 million.
• Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) had net inflows of $11.8 million.
• iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw net inflows of $50.7 million (Monday to Thursday).
• Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) had net inflows of $82.1 million (PW: -$77.1).
• Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) saw net inflows of $21.6 million.

The positive sentiment toward the US economy and inflows into US BTC-spot ETFs helped counteract the oversupply risks.

SEC vs. Ripple: Chief Legal Officer Talks SEC Appeals

XRP was up 2.10% to $0.5644 from Monday, August 12, to Saturday, August 17.

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty discussed the SEC vs. Ripple case and the chances of an appeal in an interview with CryptoLaw.

Significantly, Alderoty addressed speculation about the SEC appealing the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling, saying,

“XRP’s status as not a security and the secondary market trading of XRP as not security transactions, that is the law of the land, and that does not change even if the SEC appeals.”

However, the market reaction to the comment was relatively muted compared with the response to the July 2023 Programmatic Sales ruling.

In July 2023, XRP surged from sub-$0.50 to a high of $0.9327 in reaction to the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling. However, XRP retreated to sub-$0.50 by mid-August on fears of an appeal.

The subdued response underscored the confusion about the SEC’s ability to appeal.

Former SEC lawyer Marc Fagel previously commented on the final judgment, saying,

“The SEC won on institutional sales, which were found to violate the law; Ripple won on “programmatic” sales (i.e. sales through third-party intermediaries). It is the latter which the SEC would be appealing (but then Ripple would likely cross-appeal the former).”