Key Points
- Bitcoin ETFs have seen two consecutive weeks of over $500 million in outflows leading up to Feb. 21.
- Majority of the outflows came from Grayscale’s GBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, and Fidelity’s FBTC.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. have seen over $500 million in outflows for the second week in a row, up until Feb. 21.
SoSoValue’s data reveals that the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $559.41 million in net outflows over the past week. This continues the negative trend from the previous week when they saw $585.65 million in net redemptions.
Outflows Intensify
The week of Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 started with $60.63 million in outflows for U.S. Bitcoin ETFs, reversing the positive flows seen on the last trading day of the prior week. The negative momentum amplified over the next two days, with outflows of $71.07 million and $364.93 million, respectively. This trend continued on Feb. 21, with investors withdrawing an additional $62.77 million.
Grayscale’s GBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, and Fidelity’s FBTC were the main contributors to the outflows, with Grayscale’s GBTC seeing $60.08 million exit the fund. On the other hand, BlackRock’s IBIT received $21.64 million in positive inflows, and VanEck’s HODL saw a slight gain of $4.71 million. The total weekly trading volume for these investment vehicles was $10.72 billion.
Investor Concerns
Since Feb. 6, Bitcoin ETFs have recorded $1.1 billion in net outflows. This makes February 2025 the worst month for withdrawals since their inception over a year ago. However, BTC ETFs managed to record net inflows on February 4, 5, 7, and 14.
This trend has sparked concerns about shifting investor sentiment. Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, noted that most spot Bitcoin ETF investors primarily use these products for arbitrage strategies rather than long-term holdings. He added that only about 44% of the inflows are actually tied to long-term investments. This implies that the actual demand for Bitcoin as a long-term asset may be lower than what is often portrayed in the media.
Kadan Stadelmann, CTO at Komodo Platform, observed that while Bitcoin ETFs are seeing capital outflows, Gold ETFs are experiencing inflows. This could indicate that investors are preparing for economic uncertainty.
Stadelmann also pointed out Berkshire Hathaway’s recent disclosure of holding a record-breaking $334.2 billion in cash. This suggests the company is waiting for a market dip to buy assets and commodities at lower prices.
Furthermore, recent statements by Donald Trump about imposing reciprocal tariffs if re-elected have raised concerns about inflation and trade disruptions. These concerns have been reflected in the Federal Reserve’s last week’s meeting minutes.
Bitcoin, often seen as a leading indicator of market trends, has shown resistance and begun trending downward. Stadelmann believes this could signal a broader market selloff, particularly following Friday’s stock market decline.
