Bitcoin ETFs Bleed $430 Million as Tech Rout Tests Wall Street Buyers

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds lost $430.2 million to net withdrawals Thursday as a technology-stock selloff spread to crypto, with Fidelity and BlackRock leading the exits.

Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) posted $199.9 million in net outflows and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shed $105 million, according to Farside Investors. Together they accounted for about 71% of the day's withdrawals.

Grayscale's GBTC lost another $49.9 million, while Franklin Templeton's EZBC shed $32.9 million. No fund in Farside's table recorded positive net flows Thursday, although several reported no net movement.

The latest withdrawals brought this week's net outflow to $869.8 million, following a $643.2 million outflow last Friday. Wednesday's modest $74.6 million inflow offered a brief reprieve before Thursday's reversal.

Fidelity's swing was particularly sharp: FBTC attracted $236.7 million Wednesday, then surrendered nearly $200 million the next session. BlackRock, meanwhile, lost $201.2 million even on Wednesday's positive day, extending a five-session withdrawal streak since October 30 to roughly $1.04 billion.

ETF flows have often been treated as a gauge of demand from investors accessing Bitcoin through regular brokerage accounts. The latest figures show that access works both ways: the same familiar wrapper that makes buying easy also makes exiting straightforward.

Because ETFs trade on stock exchanges, investors can adjust their Bitcoin exposure without transferring coins to a crypto wallet. That convenience can also make the funds an easy place to cut risk during an equity selloff. Daily net flows capture shares created or redeemed at the fund level, not every trade between investors.

Thursday's redemptions arrived as the Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.5% and the S&P 500 fell about 4.4%. Chipmakers and data-center stocks led the decline as investors questioned the pace of artificial-intelligence spending and potential restrictions after the U.S. midterm elections.

Bitcoin also surrendered its post-election rebound, falling back toward $76,000 after trading above $80,000 Wednesday. Short liquidations had helped power that rally, making the subsequent reversal more painful for leveraged traders.

The ETF figures add another piece to that picture. Net flows measure creations minus redemptions of ETF shares; they cannot tell whether holders were raising cash to cover losses elsewhere, trimming Bitcoin exposure, or rebalancing portfolios.