Bitcoin ETFs’ $3.8B Exodus: A Tale of Waning Trust

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Markets

What to know:

  • The investors, with a most unseemly haste, have withdrawn nearly $3.8 billion from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the past five weeks, marking the longest outflow streak since February 2025. A most alarming development, to be sure.
  • BlackRock’s IBIT, that paragon of financial prudence, has led the retreat with about $2.13 billion in redemptions over the same period. One might wonder if the fund’s name is a mere coincidence.
  • Outflows, as they are, underscore persistent institutional wariness toward bitcoin after the early October crash, a calamity that exposed its vulnerability to shenanigans on offshore exchanges such as Binance, that notorious haven for speculative folly.

Investors, in their infinite wisdom, have just pulled nearly $3.8 billion from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds over five straight weeks, the longest outflow streak since February 2025. One might say they have abandoned their investments with the same fervor one might abandon a poorly attended social gathering.

Last week alone saw $316 million vanish, according to SoSoValue, a name that evokes neither confidence nor clarity. How intriguing.

Leading the outflows trend is BlackRock’s IBIT, that stalwart of financial stability. The fund has lost $2.13 billion over five straight weeks of outflows. One might suspect the fund’s managers have taken a holiday to the Bahamas, though such speculation is, of course, entirely unwarranted.

This shows institutions are still steering clear of the leading cryptocurrency, extending the aversion that kicked in after the early October crash, which exposed its vulnerability to shenanigans on offshore exchanges such as Binance. A most unfortunate state of affairs, to be sure.

While the latest outflows trend matches the one from February last year in length, it’s not as bad, with just $3.8 billion yanked versus $5 billion back then. That prior streak paved the way for a market swoon over the following weeks, with bitcoin falling as low as $75,000 in early April. A memory now as distant as the days of yore.

Right now, bitcoin is already trading well below that level, changing hands just under $65,000 as of writing. A most lamentable decline, though perhaps not unexpected for a commodity so prone to capriciousness.

Analysts have attributed the ongoing risk aversion to lingering U.S.-Iran tensions, President Donald Trump’s fresh global tariff announcement, and technical price-chart factors. One might argue these are but the latest in a long line of excuses for the market’s continued indecision, a trait as endearing as it is exasperating.

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2026-02-23 08:08