Crypto
US spot bitcoin ETFs lose $636 million in a day, their biggest outflow since June
Thursday's withdrawals, led by BlackRock and Fidelity funds, reversed a three-day inflow run and left October flows in the red as bitcoin slipped toward $81,500.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net outflows of about $635.6 million on Thursday, October 22, according to flow data cited by The Block. Cointelegraph said it was the largest single-day withdrawal since June 25, when the funds shed $696 million, and it more than erased Wednesday's $528.4 million of inflows.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for $254.1 million of the redemptions, Fidelity's FBTC for $217.5 million and the Ark 21Shares fund (ARKB) for $109.4 million. Morgan Stanley's MSBT was the only product with inflows, at $2.3 million. Selling spread to other crypto funds: ether ETFs lost about $110.6 million, and Solana and Hyperliquid products also saw outflows, while XRP funds took in $3.6 million.
Bitcoin traded around $81,500 on Friday morning in New York, down 3.4% over 24 hours, The Block reported, after failing to hold a Wednesday high near $84,777. The outflows came on the day the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% in a chip-led sell-off, and CoinGlass data showed at least $440 million of leveraged crypto positions liquidated over 24 hours, about $397 million of them longs.
Why it matters: the reversal leaves October with net outflows of about $175 million month to date, although the funds were still about $443 million positive for the week through Thursday after two straight weekly outflows. With more than $100 billion in assets and over $57 billion of cumulative net inflows since January 2024, the ETFs are now a key gauge of institutional risk appetite for crypto. Options pricing on Derive was less gloomy than the flows: implied odds of bitcoin finishing below $70,000 by Christmas fell to 11% from 15.6%. Friday's flow print and the Fed's October 28 decision are the next markers to watch.