US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of US$635.6 million on Thursday (22), completely reversing the US$528.4 million in inflows registered the previous day. It was the largest daily withdrawal from these funds since June, coming amid a broader decline in cryptocurrency markets and US stock exchanges.
According to data compiled by The Block, the largest redemptions occurred at BlackRock's IBIT, which lost US$254.1 million. It was followed by Fidelity's FBTC, with outflows of US$217.5 million, and Ark Invest and 21Shares' ARKB, with US$109.4 million.
Funds from Bitwise and Grayscale also recorded withdrawals. The exception was Morgan Stanley's MSBT, which took in US$2.3 million in new investment. The remaining ETFs saw no significant net movements.
The reversal is notable because, on Wednesday (21), the same funds had recorded their largest inflow in nearly a month. On that occasion, BlackRock and Fidelity accounted for roughly 85% of the inflows, pointing to a resurgence in institutional demand for Bitcoin.
Despite Thursday's sharp outflow, the weekly balance remains positive. Between Monday and Wednesday, the ETFs took in US$1.08 billion, leaving the week's cumulative result at US$442.7 million after the most recent redemptions.
Since they began trading in the United States in January 2024, spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated more than US$57 billion in net inflows and now manage over US$100 billion in assets.
Ethereum (ETH) ETFs also returned to outflows on Thursday, with redemptions of US$110.6 million, after taking in US$14.9 million in the previous session.
Funds linked to Solana (SOL) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) followed the negative trend, while XRP ETFs were an exception, with net inflows of US$3.6 million.
Tech stock sell-off weighs on Bitcoin
The ETF withdrawals came amid a fresh wave of risk aversion in international markets, particularly among technology companies.
On Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite, which tracks major technology firms, fell 2.6%, its worst session since June. The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, its steepest daily decline since July.
The move was driven by corporate earnings that fell short of expectations, concerns over heavy spending on artificial intelligence, and rising geopolitical tensions.
Bitcoin tracked the selling pressure and was trading close to US$81,500 on Friday (23), down roughly 3.4% over 24 hours, according to data from The Block.
The decline also triggered liquidations of leveraged positions. Over the past 24 hours, at least US$440 million in cryptocurrency futures contracts were forcibly closed out, of which US$397 million were bets on rising prices, according to CoinGlass.
Jeff Anderson, head of US operations at STS Digital, said Bitcoin continues to show a strong correlation with technology stocks, especially given concerns over elevated valuations at artificial intelligence companies and their debt levels.
For Anderson, however, the recent decline does not necessarily signal a trend reversal. He noted that the cryptocurrency remains within a trading range between US$80,000 and US$86,000, and that a break through either level could point to the market's next direction.
Lorris Beziers, senior decentralised finance analyst at Tesseract Group, had previously noted that continued ETF inflows would be important to keep Bitcoin supported in the region between US$80,000 and US$81,000.
According to him, a drop in institutional demand combined with the loss of that support level would signal weakening buyer interest.
Despite the uncertainty, some indicators suggest investors still hold expectations of a recovery.
Nick Forster, founder and CEO of derivatives platform Derive, told The Block that the implied probability of Bitcoin surpassing US$100,000 by Christmas rose from 9.7% to 12% over the past week, according to data from the firm's options market.
At the same time, the probability of the cryptocurrency falling below US$70,000 declined from 15.6% to 11%.
These percentages reflect prices of contracts traded on the platform, not guaranteed forecasts. According to Forster, the shift indicates that traders are increasing their exposure to a possible year-end rally while reducing demand for protection against sharp declines.
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