When Cryptos Go on a Diet: The Great ETF Exodus

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Well, well, well, what do we have here? The crypto market, it seems, has decided to go on a bit of a diet. 🥦 Yes, you heard that right. The poor Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and products have been bleeding funds like a vampire in the sunlight. 🔥

Last week alone, these financial vehicles tracking both assets saw outflows exceeding $1.2 billion across several countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and Canada. And if you add in the withdrawals from other digital asset products, the total outflows hit a staggering $1.7 billion. Over the past five weeks, the total outflows have exceeded $6.4 billion. Ouch! 🤕

$980M Leave U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs

A Monday report from the digital asset investment company CoinShares revealed that crypto investment products have marked their 17th straight day of outflows, with Bitcoin leading the trend. The firm noted that this is the longest negative streak it has seen since its records began in 2015. Due to this decline in prices and consistent outflows, the total assets under management for digital asset investment products have declined by a whopping $48 billion. 💸

The United States spot Bitcoin ETF market alone accounted for over $980 million in outflows from ETFs issued by several asset managers like BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Ark Invest/21Shares, and WisdomTree. BlackRock’s IBIT saw the largest outflows, amounting to $383 million, while Fidelity’s FBTC followed suit with $316 million in withdrawals. IBIT recorded just one day of inflow out of five trading days throughout the week. FBTC saw the same but recorded only three days of outflows and one day of no flows. 🤷‍♂️

From March 10 to 14, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market saw only one inflow day, per CoinGlass data. Occasional inflows recorded by IBIT, FBTC, Ark Invest’s ARKB, VanEck’s HODL, and Bitwise’s BITB were not enough to offset the massive outflows seen on about two trading days. The funds went on for two days without recording any inflows at all. It’s like trying to fill a bucket with a sieve. 🪣

Ethereum Funds Bleed

For the U.S. spot Ethereum ETF market, the funds have been on an outflow streak since March 5. However, they lost $189 million last week. Once again, BlackRock’s ETHA led the losses with outflows surpassing $63 million, while Fidelity’s FETH followed behind with withdrawals exceeding $61 million. The spot ETFs recorded only two days of inflows – their only positive flows since March 5 – but the deposits were still not enough to offset the withdrawals. In fact, the inflows were less than $1.5 million on each occasion. It’s like trying to stop a leak with a Band-Aid. 🤚

Meanwhile, these outflows come as bitcoin and ether struggle to return to the $90,000 and $2,000 ranges, respectively. It’s a bit like watching a cat try to climb a tree it doesn’t really want to climb. 🐱

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2025-03-18 07:56