Bitcoin Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) just experienced their third-largest weekly outflow on record, even as Wall Street deepens its crypto bets.
More than $1.2 billion was withdrawn from spot Bitcoin funds last week, joined by $508 million from Ethereum products, while Solana ETFs attracted $137 million in new money, according to data kept by SoSoValue.
The outflows came even as Bitcoin rebounded 4.4% in 24 hours to $106,172 and Ethereum gained 7.2% to $3,617, recouping some of their losses from the U.S. government shutdown and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Market observers say the BTC price drop reflects a position reduction after one of the strongest inflow streaks since early 2024, rather than an outright capitulation.
As CoinDesk previously reported, liquidity indicators such as the SOFR-EFFR spread have narrowed sharply from their late October highs, signaling easing financial conditions. The rise in the dollar index has stalled and borrowing from the Federal Reserve’s Permanent Pension Facility has fallen to zero. Taken together, these factors support new risk-taking in financial markets.
Wall Street takes over from Degens
Wall Street’s interest in crypto remains intense. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF continues to lead cash flow for the year, while Fidelity and VanEck have expanded their spot product lines. Yet most of this institutional participation still occurs off-chain.
As Annabelle Huang of Altius Labs recently wrote in a CoinDesk opinion piece, the largest crypto investors continue to purchase exposure through ETFs rather than directly on-chain because they are not yet sure the infrastructure meets Wall Street’s standards for reliability, allowing the market’s potential for liquidity and transparency to be only partially realized.
In a note to CoinDesk, market maker Enflux wrote that this change reflects a broader shift in crypto itself, as speculative trading gives way to professional infrastructure and traditional financial integration.
“When the Fed injects, Bitcoin rises; when yields fall, they fall,” the company said. “The dream of decoupling is now gone and what remains of the market will either professionalize or disappear.”
