U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw their largest daily outflow in two weeks on Thursday, with investors pulling a combined 194.6 million dollars from the products. The move follows a stretch of choppy trading and rising caution ahead of key economic indicators.
BlackRock’s IBIT led the withdrawals with 112.9 million dollars in net outflows, according to SoSoValue. Fidelity’s FBTC posted 54.2 million dollars in outflows, while VanEck’s HODL, Grayscale’s GBTC and Bitwise’s BITB also saw redemptions. The drop comes after a smaller 14.9 million dollar outflow on Wednesday and marks the sharpest single-day retreat since November 20.
Trading activity cooled as well. ETF volume slipped to 3.1 billion dollars on Thursday, down from 4.2 billion dollars the day before and 5.3 billion dollars on Tuesday.
Bitcoin itself dipped 1.4 percent over the past 24 hours, trading at 91,989 dollars early Friday morning. The asset briefly slid to around 84,000 dollars earlier in the week before clawing back some ground.
Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, said the wave of ETF selling appears tied to the unwinding of basis trades. As the spread between bitcoin futures and spot prices fell below breakeven, arbitrage traders were “forced to sell holdings amid heightened market volatility.” He added that traders are keeping a close watch on upcoming U.S. inflation releases and the Federal Reserve’s December 10 rate decision. A 25-basis-point cut, he said, could help stabilize sentiment if it signals a broader easing cycle.
Timothy Misir, head of research at BRN, noted that exchange balances have dropped to about 1.8 million BTC, the lowest level since 2017, based on combined CryptoQuant and Glassnode data. He said the market “opened with quiet strength,” pointing to steady accumulation, tightening supply on exchanges and a price holding above its True Market Mean. The missing element, Misir said, is a clear breakout into the 96,000 to 106,000 dollar range.
Ethereum ETFs also saw weakness. After posting 140.2 million dollars in inflows on Wednesday, the category flipped to 41.6 million dollars in outflows on Thursday. Grayscale’s ETHE recorded the largest single-day withdrawal with 30.9 million dollars.
