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U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded their largest outflow of assets since the start of the current market cycle.
According to Glassnode, ETF holdings have declined by approximately 100,300 BTC from their October peak—total assets stood at around 1.26 million BTC at the time of publication. This is the steepest decline since the launch of such products in January 2024.
At current prices, the lost positions are valued at more than $7.7 billion. The decline reflects sustained net outflows: as investors withdrew funds from spot ETFs, the funds were forced to reduce their BTC positions. According to SoSoValue, approximately $1.6 billion flowed out of ETF products in January 2026 alone—a continuation of a series of monthly outflows that began as early as November 2025.
How the outflows unfolded
A five-week streak of negative returns, which began on January 20, drew about $3.8 billion out of spot ETFs—the longest continuous outflow since February–March 2025, when five consecutive weeks of outflows totaling approximately $5.4 billion coincided with Trump’s tariff announcements and a sharp decline in risk assets.
“This also affected market sentiment: the average entry price for ETF positions was around $83,980, leaving this category of investors down by about 20% at current prices—which reduces the willingness to buy more and turns rebounds into an opportunity to reduce positions,” writes Crypto Economy.
Analyst Arthur Hayes warned back in February that hedging by large institutional dealers is putting additional downward pressure on the price of BTC—a mechanism that acted as an accelerator during the rally is now working in the opposite direction.
The Long-Term Picture
Despite current outflows, cumulative net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs since their launch total approximately $54 billion, and total net assets stand at around $85.3 billion. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted:
“This is an important context when discussing $8 billion in outflows amid a 45% drop and the relationship between Bitcoin and Wall Street, which has been overwhelmingly positive overall.”
Who Is Attracted to Volatility
While institutional capital is retreating from the crypto market, the traditional brokerage segment is seeing the opposite trend. According to Finance Magnates Intelligence, the number of active client accounts at retail FX and CFD brokers reached 7.42 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026—9.4% more than in Q4 2025 and 42.4% more compared to Q1 2025.
Specifically, broker EC Markets recorded 272,000 active traders in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 230,000 in the previous quarter, representing an 18.3% increase.