Bitcoin price today: slips to $103k as institutional flows slow, US govt reopens

Investing.com-- Bitcoin edged lower on Thursday, struggling to make headway amid middling capital flows from institutional investors, while the end of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown did little to spur risk appetite. 

The world’s biggest crypto fell 0.7% to $103,150. by 09:55 ET (14:55 GMT).

Bitcoin ETF flows remain wholly negative, institutional investors seen wary

Spot-listed U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds clocked an outflow of nearly $278 million on Wednesday, and were also nursing a $1.2 billion outflow in the first week of November, data from SoSoValue showed.

While ETFs did see a $247 million inflow over the past seven days, it was only a fraction of the heavy outflows seen through late-October and early-November. 

The outflows come after a $500 billion crypto valuation wipeout in early-October shook institutional faith in crypto, with corporate treasury buyers and ETF operators largely stepping back from the market since. 

This denied the crypto of the capital needed to push its prices higher. 

Sluggish price movement also saw retail traders largely sour towards the crypto, which is usually attractive for speculative investors because of its wild price swings. 

Bitcoin has struggled to break above $110,000 since early-October, and has traded below $105,000 through most of November. The crypto also briefly broke below $100,000 earlier in the month. 

Crypto asset manager Grayscale files for IPO

Grayscale, the crypto-focused asset manager, on Thursday submitted its registration for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO). The move comes as the government reopens after the country’s longest shutdown, a shift expected to revive activity in the new-listings market.

The company intends to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “GRAY,” with Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Jefferies and Cantor serving as lead underwriters.

Grayscale plans to offer shares to the public as part of the deal.

Crypto price today: altcoins muted, tracking Bitcoin

Broader crypto prices tracked Bitcoin’s muted performance on Thursday, as risk appetite took little support from U.S. lawmakers agreeing to end the country’s longest-ever government shutdown. 

World no.2 crypto Ether shed 1.6% to $3,450.80, while XRP rose 3.2%.

BNB Cardano, and Solana fell between 0.3% and 2.3%. Among meme tokens, Dogecoin rose marginally, while $TRUMP slipped 1.6%.

Risk appetite was mildly boosted by U.S. President Donald Trump signing into law a bill to fund the government until at least January 30. This was after the House Of Representatives voted to approve the measure late-Wednesday. 

But the government’s reopening also opens the door to more official economic data releases, which could paint a dour picture of the world’s largest economy, especially in the wake of the shutdown. Trump claimed the shutdown cost the economy $1.5 trillion.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)