Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows for four consecutive days, from Tuesday, January 6, to Friday, January 10. The largest daily outflow occurred on Wednesday — $486 million was withdrawn from exchange-traded funds, followed by $398.9 million on Thursday and another $249.9 million on Friday.
The situation changed sharply compared to the beginning of the year, when Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded a strong capital inflow: on January 2, Bitcoin ETFs attracted $471.1 million, and on January 5, $697.2 million.
The outflow from spot Ethereum ETFs over the week amounted to $68.6 million, resulting in total net assets reaching just $18.7 billion by the end of the week, specialists at SoSoValue reported.
Vincent Liu, investment director at Kronos Research, explained the capital outflows from exchange-traded funds as driven by economic uncertainty and political risks—investors have become less inclined to put money into high-risk assets. Changing investor expectations regarding the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy are also pressuring crypto ETFs, the Kronos Research executive explained.
According to him, investors are now closely watching the U.S. consumer price index and Federal Reserve statements to gauge when regulatory policy might ease. Until clearer signals emerge, investors will continue to cautiously allocate capital into crypto-linked ETFs, Liu suggested.
Despite the unstable situation with such investment products, recently a major U.S. bank, Morgan Stanley, filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch two spot ETFs, one tracking Bitcoin's price and the other tracking the cryptocurrency Solana. The bank took this step shortly after its direct competitor, the second-largest bank in the U.S., Bank of America, allowed its investment consultants to recommend investments in Bitcoin ETFs.
Just recently, the SEC was hesitant to approve applications for launching exchange-traded funds tied even to major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ethereum.
