Friday sees $1.4B withdrawn from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, extending recent outflows

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds shed more than $1.4 billion over the five trading days through May 22, according to FXEmpire, extending a run of withdrawals that coincided with a drop in bitcoin prices. Bitcoin was down 3.55% on May 22, FXEmpire’s market page showed, after a brief rally above $80,000 earlier in the month. CoinGlass separately showed daily net outflows of $105.2 million for U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs on May 22, with selling concentrated in BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. ### Where does the $1.4 billion figure come from? FXEmpire reported on May 22 that investors had pulled more than $1.4 billion from spot bitcoin ETFs over the previous five trading days. The report tied those withdrawals to weaker sentiment in bitcoin and said the move put the $77,000 area in focus as a near-term support level. (fxempire.com) Farside Investors, which tracks daily ETF flows, publishes fund-by-fund data for the U.S. spot bitcoin ETF market. Its bitcoin ETF flow pages are one of the public sources used by market participants to monitor whether money is moving into or out of the funds on a given day. ### Which funds were seeing the outflows? CoinGlass data for May 22 showed net daily outflows of about 888 bitcoin from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known as IBIT, and about 468 bitcoin from Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, known as FBTC. (fxempire.com) The total net outflow for the day was about 1,360 bitcoin, which CoinGlass translated to $105.2 million. CoinGlass also showed repeated withdrawals earlier in the same week. (farside.co.uk) Its table listed net outflows of about 1,300 bitcoin on May 21, about 918 bitcoin on May 20 and about 4,300 bitcoin on May 19, indicating that the selling was not confined to a single session. ### How did bitcoin trade alongside the ETF withdrawals? Bitcoin was down 3.55% on May 22 on FXEmpire’s market page, while the outlet’s report said the five-day ETF withdrawals contributed to pressure on the token after its move above $80,000 earlier in May. (coinglass.com) FXEmpire said the retreat left traders watching whether bitcoin could hold near $77,000. CoinGlass listed total net assets for spot bitcoin ETFs at about $106.35 billion as of its May 22 update, with total daily trading volume of $2.85 billion. Those figures show that even after the recent withdrawals, the U.S. spot bitcoin ETF complex remains large and liquid. ### Why do ETF flows matter so much for bitcoin? U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have become one of the clearest public gauges of institutional demand because they disclose daily creations and redemptions through fund flow trackers such as Farside and CoinGlass. (fxempire.com) Negative flow streaks can coincide with weaker bitcoin prices because they signal that investors are pulling capital from regulated fund vehicles rather than adding to positions. That relationship is an inference drawn from the timing of the reported withdrawals and the price decline, and FXEmpire explicitly linked the two in its May 22 report. (coinglass.com) ### What should readers watch next? Daily fund flow updates from Farside Investors and CoinGlass will show whether the five-day withdrawal streak continues into the next trading sessions. BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale products remain the largest named participants in the U.S. spot bitcoin ETF market, and bitcoin’s next test will be whether prices hold around the $77,000 area cited by FXEmpire on May 22. (fxempire.com)