Bitcoin ETFs end 69% of February days in outflows territory

Spot Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the US are recording a massive sell-off as investors’ sentiment turned bearish. February 25 saw more than $937 million in outflows from US Bitcoin ETFs, the largest since January 2024. It shattered the previous record of $671 million outflow from last December.

The continuous withdrawal is turning out to be a worrying trend as BTC ETFs have seen over  $2 billion in outflows in just 6 days. The biggest crypto, Bitcoin, has just hit new yearly lows. BTC is down by 21% from its ATH as volatility in open interest and ETF outflows fuel risk aversion.

Bitcoin ETFs see record-breaking outflows

Vetle Lunde, Head of Research at K33 Research, in a post reported that February 25’s net outflow of 14,579 BTC from BTC ETPs globally is the largest recorded net outflow since the launch of US spot ETFs. He added that these outflows have dominated throughout February. In fact, 69% of all the trading days of the month have concluded with net outflows.

As per the data shared by Sosovalue, Fidelity’s FBTC led the charge with a staggering $344.7 million outflow, while BlackRock’s IBIT wasn’t far behind at $164.4 million. Bitwise’s BITB lost $88.3 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC saw $66.1 million exiting from the funds.

Invesco Galaxy’s BTCO also recorded huge withdrawals. The ETF saw $62 million leaving the fund and Valkyrie’s BRRR saw a $25 million exit. This was the 6th consecutive day of investors pulling out their money from these ETFs.

The last week posted $538 million of outflow in the last week and around $560 million of withdrawals in the week before it.

[ATTENTION] A massive 🔴$937.9M just flowed out of U.S. 🇺🇸 BTC ETFs—the LARGEST since launch!

👉 This includes the largest outflow ever from Fidelity's FBTC and the fifth-largest outflow from BlackRock’s IBIT.

👉 This figure does not include 21Shares’ ARKB data, which may also… https://t.co/Rp7SnIU6k6 pic.twitter.com/SlhP84VSB1

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) February 26, 2025

Bitcoin price has dropped by around 8% in the last 7 days and 11% in the past 30 days. BTC is trading at an average price of $88,881 as of press time. Its 24-hour trading volume is down by 18% to stand at $61 billion.

Traders panic as futures gap shrinks

What should’ve been a quiet week for the crypto market turned into a bloodbath. Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) announcement of 20,356 BTC was not well-received by the market and didn’t boost the market sentiment. Instead, fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs resurfaced among investors.

Traders have been profiting from the gap building between Bitcoin’s spot price and futures contracts. They went for the strategy of buying the ETFs and shorting the futures. This trade works when futures get more than spot but when that gap shrinks, traders get nervous. This is what happened with traders who got crunched amid the selling pressure. As those futures premiums shrank, traders began to pull out which triggered massive ETF outflows.

Despite heavy turbulence in the market, Ethereum ETFs have managed to stand strong with only $50.08 million in combined outflows. It seems like investors are still showing confidence in ETH’s long-term potential. 

Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) led the outflows with $27.07 million in exits. Fidelity’s FETH remains one of the top performers by cumulative net inflows despite a modest $12.46M outflow. Bitwise’s Ethereum ETF also saw $8.21M leave its coffers.

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