U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost a net $231 million on Monday, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for $300 million in outflows that other funds partially offset, including $50 million to ARKB and $35 million to GBTC, according to SoSoValue data.
The flight occurs as risk appetite increases elsewhere. Wall Street’s tech rally extended to Asia on Tuesday, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 1% on the final trading day of the year after a rebound in semiconductors helped the S&P 500 end a five-year losing streak. The Asian benchmark is on track for its biggest quarterly gain in almost 17 years.
South Korea’s Kospi index, which collapsed 10% in a single session earlier this month, climbed 2.1% to extend its lead as the world’s best-performing major benchmark this year. Samsung is up more than 100% this quarter, and SK Hynix has gained nearly 240% since April. The yen fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1986, a sign that investors are financing the AI business by borrowing in yen.
However, Bitcoin ETFs do not participate in this capital rotation. The same AI infrastructure spending that fueled record quarters in Seoul and Tokyo is trading competing for dollars that might otherwise flow into bitcoin, a dynamic that ran through monthly coverage of SpaceX, Anthropic and the chip sector.
