U.S.-listed spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds recorded one of their heaviest combined outflow days of 2026 as investors pulled close to $1 billion amid falling crypto prices and rising macro uncertainty. Data showed roughly $818 million exited spot bitcoin ETFs in a single session, while ether-focused products saw about $156 million in redemptions. The withdrawals coincided with a sharp downturn in the market, with bitcoin sliding below $85,000 and briefly approaching the $81,000 level before stabilizing, while ether fell more than 7 percent. The scale and synchronization of the outflows point to a broad reduction in institutional crypto exposure rather than a rotation between digital assets, reflecting a clear shift toward risk-off positioning.
Major ETF issuers bore the brunt of the selling as redemptions spread across the sector. BlackRock’s spot bitcoin fund saw the largest withdrawals, followed by significant outflows from products run by Fidelity and Grayscale. Smaller issuers were not spared, with funds from Bitwise, Ark 21Shares, and VanEck also posting notable losses. Ether ETFs followed a similar pattern, with declines across leading products and total ether ETF assets falling to their lowest level this month. Market participants said the uniform nature of the selling marked a change from earlier in January, when inflows into ether funds had at times offset weakness in bitcoin products. Instead, the latest moves suggest institutions were trimming overall exposure to crypto-linked instruments as volatility intensified.
Analysts attributed the pressure to a combination of macro and market-specific factors, including heightened volatility across risk assets, concerns over U.S. economic policy, and aggressive unwinding of leveraged positions. Expectations around future Federal Reserve leadership and a potentially more hawkish policy stance weighed on sentiment, while broader equity market weakness reinforced caution. Some observers described the episode as a leverage-driven shakeout rather than the start of a prolonged downturn, noting that ETF flows appear to be reacting to price moves rather than driving them. For now, analysts expect demand for spot crypto ETFs to remain fragile until volatility subsides and clearer signals emerge on monetary policy and broader market direction.
