Spot Bitcoin ETFs shed $643 million in a day as Ethereum funds lose $156 million

The timing stings. Bitcoin funds had just wrapped up four straight days of inflows totaling roughly $424 million to $441 million, only to have one bad Thursday undo all of that progress with room to spare. The outflows came one day after a serious security incident at Binance, where the exchange reported unauthorized withdrawals of approximately $6.3 billion.

Who led the exits

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was the largest single contributor to the Bitcoin outflow, accounting for approximately $234 million of the total. Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) followed with around $201 million in redemptions, with the remaining outflows spread across other spot Bitcoin products.

Scale matters

The outflow is meaningful but not catastrophic relative to the size of the category. Total net assets across US spot Bitcoin ETFs range between $98 billion and $104 billion, with cumulative net inflows since January 2024 standing at approximately $57 billion. A $643 million day is a dent, not a demolition.

Ethereum products operate on a smaller scale, holding approximately $13 billion to $14 billion in total assets with cumulative inflows of around $12 billion. This means the $156 million outflow takes a proportionally bigger bite out of the Ethereum ETF pool than the Bitcoin outflow does from its larger counterpart.

Possible explanations

While the Binance security incident may have helped trigger the ETF redemptions, other explanations are also on the table. The pullback could reflect profit-taking after the inflow streak, or routine risk management heading into the end of October. ETF holders don't keep coins on Binance, as their exposure runs through regulated funds and institutional custodians.