Bitcoin is back above $78,000 — but ETF investors are still selling

Bitcoin staged a V-shaped recovery on Wednesday. After sinking to a seven-week low near $75,700 as U.S. midterm results unsettled markets overnight, the world's largest cryptocurrency rebounded to trade around $78,300, up nearly 1% on the day, as clearer election results eased political uncertainty. CoinDesk's analysis put it plainly: bitcoin erased its early losses and was steaming higher as midterm uncertainty faded.

The bounce, however, is running against the flow of money in the funds that many ordinary investors use to buy bitcoin. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $115.6 million in net outflows on Tuesday, November 3, their third consecutive trading day of withdrawals — but the pace slowed sharply. The funds had lost $398.6 million on Monday and $643.2 million the previous Friday, taking the three-session total to about $1.16 billion, the heaviest selling since June.

The details show a split market rather than a rout. BlackRock's IBIT, the largest fund, lost about $95 million on Tuesday after $405.3 million in redemptions on Monday. But buyers stepped in elsewhere: Bitwise's BITB attracted $21.9 million, Fidelity's FBTC added $6.8 million and Morgan Stanley's MSBT brought in $3.3 million. Trading value fell to $1.46 billion, with total net assets closing at $99.2 billion. Ether funds told a gloomier story, with $85.4 million leaving on Tuesday for a seventh straight session of outflows.

There was one brighter flow signal from the exchange at the centre of the last month's drama. Binance, still recovering from the $6.3 billion hack of October 29, reported net inflows of around $2.3 billion after several days of heavy withdrawals, according to Proactive reporting carried by Yahoo Finance — a sign that customer money is starting to come back. Binance also plans a broader reserves snapshot today, November 4, covering more tokens than the ten in its October 31 proof.

For anyone holding bitcoin, the honest read is mixed. If bitcoin holds above $78,000 while ETF redemptions continue, it suggests buyers elsewhere are absorbing the supply — but a sustained recovery needs those fund flows to turn positive again. The broader trend remains consolidative below key resistance around $80,000 to $82,000, and analysts warn the dip is not yet proven to be a bottom. The next tests are Friday's U.S. jobs report and whether Thursday's fund-flow data finally flips green.

What to watch: whether bitcoin holds $78,000; Thursday's ETF flow numbers; the November 4 Binance snapshot and its 40-to-50-hour proof; and any legislative signals on the crypto market-structure bill before January 3.