According to Woofun AI, the Bitcoin ETF (MSBT.US) managed by Citi (C.US) under the Smith Barney brand has shown a significant divergence between capital inflows and net asset value. While attracting a massive $371 million in inflows, its net assets actually evaporated by $66.8 million. This contradiction stems from a structural breakdown of operational details.
During the 85-day window from April 7 to June 30, despite the redemption scale being only $5.26 million (representing 1.42% of new funds), market volatility dominated the final outcome. Specifically, MSBT issued 17.9 million shares during this period and correspondingly established 1,790 new investment portfolios, while the redemption side involved only 250,000 shares and 25 redemption portfolios, resulting in precise new funds of $371.1 million. Notably, Woofun AI's compiled data shows that the fund achieved a net gain of $365.84 million through capital transactions, but this paper gain failed to offset the erosion caused by the underlying asset's price decline.
The financial structure further reveals differences in statistical methods. Under GAAP accounting standards, the $371.1 million received by MSBT consists of two parts: $200.3 million in cash and $170.8 million in Bitcoin. As of the end of June, the fund held 17.65 million shares available for sale. Due to differing daily ETF fund flow metrics and the undisclosed identity of sellers, the market cannot determine whether these operations originated from retail investors, shrouding the motivation behind capital flows in mystery.
Entering July, the growth trend continued, but the main driver remained unclear. As of July 31, holdings climbed to 21.74 million shares, an increase of 4.09 million shares from the end of the previous month, representing a growth of 23.17%. This data confirms net new investment activity persisted after the reporting period, but the report does not specify the investor type or channel driving this growth.
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