U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a record ninth consecutive day of net outflows on Friday [1].
This trend suggests waning investor demand for the cryptocurrency, causing Bitcoin to lag behind other risk assets during a period of market volatility.
According to reports, the funds lost between $2.8 billion [2] and nearly $3 billion [3] over the course of the streak. This period of selling pressure coincides with a weekly drop of 2.7% for Bitcoin [4]. In contrast, the S&P 500 reached a new all-time high [4], highlighting a divergence between traditional equities and digital assets.
BlackRock's IBIT fund was a primary driver of these movements. On May 28, the fund saw outflows of $177.94 million [5]. Other reports indicated a near-record single-day outflow of approximately $528 million [6] for the same fund during this volatile window.
Earlier this month, the market saw a record $649 million in outflows on May 18, marking the largest single-day exit since January [7]. Year-to-date, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen total net outflows of $596 million [8].
Analysts said that rising inflation and a shift in investor sentiment have pressured the price of Bitcoin relative to other risk assets [2, 3]. While traditional markets have remained resilient, the consistent exit of capital from spot ETFs signals a cooling of the institutional appetite that previously drove the asset's growth.
“U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a record ninth consecutive day of net outflows”
The divergence between Bitcoin's performance and the S&P 500 suggests that institutional investors are currently treating cryptocurrency as a higher-risk asset than traditional equities. The record-long streak of ETF outflows indicates that the 'institutional bridge' provided by spot ETFs may be facilitating a rapid exit of capital during inflationary periods, rather than providing a stable floor for the price.
