Bitcoin ETFs lost $643 million in one day — wiping out most of 2026's inflows
Friday's outflow was the biggest since June and erased nearly two-thirds of what U.S. bitcoin funds had taken in all year. Ether funds bled too. Institutional demand has gone quiet.
Key facts
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $643.3 million on Friday, October 30 — the biggest single day since June 25
- BlackRock's IBIT lost $233.7 million and Fidelity's FBTC $201.4 million
- Friday's outflow wiped out 63.6% of the funds' year-to-date net inflow of just over $1 billion
- Ether ETFs have seen five straight weeks of outflows; October's ether outflow was a record $1.61 billion
- Total bitcoin fund assets fell below $100 billion to $98.14 billion
The first trading session after the Binance hack was brutal for America's bitcoin funds. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $643.3 million in net outflows on Friday, October 30, according to data provider SoSoValue — the biggest single-day exodus since June 25, and narrowly larger than the $635.5 million that left on October 22. BlackRock's IBIT led the way out, losing $233.7 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC at $201.4 million.
The damage goes beyond one bad day. Before Friday, the funds were sitting on a net year-to-date inflow of just over $1 billion; Friday's outflow wiped out 63.6% of it. Total assets in the bitcoin funds fell below $100 billion to $98.14 billion. It was also the 12th-largest single-day outflow on record for the funds.
Ether funds told the same story. About $156 million left U.S. spot ether ETFs on Friday, and the weekly picture is worse: $202.6 million left bitcoin ETFs over the week, while ether ETFs have now seen five straight weeks of outflows, including $431.5 million last week alone. Across October, investors pulled $515 million from bitcoin ETFs and a record $1.61 billion from ether ETFs.
Other gauges of institutional appetite agree. The Coinbase premium — a widely tracked measure of buying pressure from U.S. investors — stayed negative, between −0.18% and −0.27%, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sat in the low-to-mid 30s, in fear territory. Trading in bitcoin itself was flat rather than panicked: bitcoin held near $78,000 on Monday, with ether near $2,275, after touching a six-week low on Friday. The money leaving was institutional and orderly, not a retail stampede.
Why it matters: these funds are the main way pension funds, advisers and other large investors hold bitcoin, so their flows are the best public read on institutional demand. A $643 million day right after the largest crypto theft on record says institutions are stepping back, not buying the dip. Analysts at Derive, the options exchange, attributed the outflows directly to the hack. The funds' flows will also be watched against three near-term events: Tuesday's midterm elections, Friday's jobs report, and potential MSCI index exclusions of major corporate bitcoin holders.
What to watch: whether ETF flows stabilise this week or extend the losing streak; the midterm results on November 3; the October jobs report on November 6; and whether bitcoin holds above $76,000 support.