Bitcoin ETFs record fourth consecutive week of outflows, amid macroeconomic concerns

According to Sociovalue data, 12 spot bitcoin ETFs recorded another week of withdrawals from March 3 to March 5, with nearly $800 million withdrawn. This follows a record week of withdrawals that saw more than $2.61 billion withdrawn, extending the streak of negative flows to four consecutive weeks with total net withdrawals exceeding $4.5 billion.

Notably, bitcoin ETFs recorded net negative outflows last week, starting with $74.19 million on Monday, followed by $143.43 million, $38.3 million, $134.26 million, and concluding with the largest outflow of $409 million on Friday.

On the last day of the week, 21Shares’ ARK and ARKB saw the highest withdrawals with $160.03 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $154.89 million. Other major ETF issuers, including BlackRock’s IBIT, Grayscale’s GBTC and Bitwise’s BITB, also saw withdrawals of $39.85 million, $36.46 million and $18.6 million, respectively. The only fund that broke the trend was HODL VanEck, which recorded a modest inflow of $619,550.

Meanwhile, nine Ethereum funds also reported negative outflows for two consecutive weeks, with $455 million moving out of the funds, reflecting the broader bearish sentiment in the crypto market.

Despite widespread expectations that the White House crypto summit could boost the market, Bitcoin ETFs continued to decline. Analysts attribute this decline to ongoing macroeconomic concerns, particularly President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, and general economic uncertainty, which is eroding investor confidence in digital assets.

Some experts suggest that strategic market shifts are also contributing to the sell-off. One of the prevailing theories is that hedge funds are profiting from low-risk arbitrage trades between the Bitcoin spot ETF and CME futures. As these trades expire, liquidity dries up, increasing selling pressure and increasing outflows of the ETF.

Another factor influencing Bitcoin’s recent price is that its price fell from $90,000 to $85,000 after the decree was signed.

According to Kadan Stadelman, CTO of Komodo, the reason Bitcoin ETFs are seeing significant withdrawals despite the creation of a Bitcoin strategic reserve is a classic case of “buy the rumor, sell the news.” In such a scenario, assets typically rise in anticipation of an event, but fall when that event occurs.

Stadelman explained that speculation about a Bitcoin strategic reserve began in July 2024, when Trump first mentioned the initiative. By the time the official announcement was made during the crypto summit on Thursday, the market had already priced it in, leading to a sell-off.

He added that in such situations, "people who are less informed, who are less connected and who have less money often buy the news and lose money." The summit also came at a challenging time for markets, with worries about trade tariffs adding to existing concerns about inflation, a slowing housing market, weak consumer spending and dwindling savings.