Headlines about Bitcoin ETF outflows often mix two things: Bitcoin's price move and actual share redemptions. If BTC drops, ETF AUM drops in dollars even if nobody sells a single share. That mark-to-market drop gets read as money leaving, and it can look like an institutional exit when the wrapper's Bitcoin holdings and shares outstanding […]
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Spot Bitcoin ETFs listed in the US recorded their steepest single-day outflow in nearly three weeks on Friday, with $349 million pulled from all 11 products combined, according to data from Farside. Related Reading: Stablecoin Market Breaks Records — USDC Controls 70% Of $1.8 Trillion Volume The withdrawals came as Bitcoin slid back toward $68,000 after briefly touching $74,000 earlier in the week — a run-up that, based on on-chain data, appears to have been the trigger for a significant wave of selling by large holders. Big Holders Bought Low, Then Sold Fast Crypto analytics platform Santiment tracked the behavior of wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin — a group commonly referred to as whales — and found they had been building positions aggressively between Feb. 23 and March 3, when prices were stuck in the $62,900 to $69,600 range. Once Bitcoin crossed $74,000 on Wednesday, those same wallets began offloading. By Friday, roughly 66% of what they had accumulated over that 10-day window had been sold back into the market. Smaller investors moved in the opposite direction. Wallets holding less than 0.01 Bitcoin — the retail end of the market — have been adding to their positions as prices fell. According to Santiment, that kind of divergence between large and small holders has historically pointed to more downside ahead. “When retail buys while whales sell, it typically signals that the correction is not yet over,” the platform said in a Friday report. Fear Gauge Drops To Its Lowest Reading In Weeks Bitcoin’s slide pushed the Crypto Fear & Greed Index down six points to a score of 12 on Saturday, placing it deep in “Extreme Fear” territory. The index measures market sentiment across a range of factors including volatility, trading volume, and social media activity. Some analysts said that Bitcoin could still face another drop if buyers fail to defend the current price zone. A loss of support around the $67,000–$68,000 range may trigger a move back toward recent lows to gather liquidity before any potential rebound. An Economist’s Case For A $60K Floor Not everyone sees a breakdown coming. Economist Timothy Peterson pointed to the Bitcoin Price to Metcalfe Value chart — a model that measures Bitcoin’s price against the estimated value of its network based on user activity — and said the $60,000 level has held as a bottom in every prior cycle. “About 99.5% chance it stays above $60k,” Peterson wrote on X. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Brief Rally Isn’t The End Of The Bear Market, Analysts Say Bitcoin had already tested that level once this cycle, falling to $60,000 on Feb. 6 during a broader pullback from an all-time high of $126,000 set in October. Since then, it has managed a partial recovery, though Friday’s ETF outflows and the continued whale selling suggest the market has not yet found stable footing. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
Professional investors trimmed exposure but largely held firm during BTC’s recent slump, while long-term allocators quietly added positions, the crypto asset manager said.
Five straight weeks of net redemptions from crypto investment products are enough to raise the alarm, as they point to a choice that keeps getting made, with the same logic, on the same cadence, by the same kinds of committees. CoinShares' Feb. 23 weekly report showed digital asset investment products saw $288 million in outflows […]
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Most crypto funds have been losing investors lately. XRP hasn’t gotten that memo. While Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds have faced weeks of steady outflows, XRP-linked products have quietly been doing something different — attracting fresh money even on the market’s worst days. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So XRP Takes Half Of All New Altcoin ETF Money According to Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg, XRP is capturing roughly 50% of all new capital flowing into altcoin ETFs. That’s a commanding share of a market that includes several competing assets. Solana comes in second, drawing around 30% of fresh inflows, while Hedera accounts for the remaining 20%. McClurg made the comments publicly, pointing to XRP’s staying power at a time when investor confidence across the broader crypto market has been shaky at best. The numbers behind that claim are hard to dismiss. Reports show that so far this month, XRP ETFs have recorded negative flow days on just three occasions. Bitcoin ETFs, by comparison, have posted outflows on nine separate trading sessions during the same period. That gap tells a story about where some investors are choosing to put — or keep — their money right now. ???? BREAKING: Canary Capital CEO just dropped something the market isn’t ready for.$XRP quietly absorbing capital while BTC & ETH see outflows. Even on red days. Even when Bitcoin ETFs bled. ???? https://t.co/MrCwbmUnPC pic.twitter.com/xEAMaMm80e — Xaif Crypto????????|???????? (@Xaif_Crypto) February 25, 2026 Last week offered perhaps the clearest snapshot of this divide. Bitcoin and Ethereum investment products together shed $250 million in outflows. XRP, meanwhile, pulled in $3.5 million. Modest in size, but striking given the conditions surrounding it. Steady Inflows Since Launch Reports say XRP ETFs got off to a strong start when the first spot product was listed on Nasdaq in mid-November last year. From that point through January 7, 2026, inflows came in consistently without a single day of net outflows — an unbroken streak that lasted nearly two months. That first outflow day in January was an exception to an otherwise clean run. Since then, XRP funds have largely held their footing while competing products struggled. The cumulative result of that run: $1.24 billion in total net inflows, with assets under management now sitting at a little over $1 billion. Among the individual products, the Canary XRP ETF leads with $280 million in net assets. Bitwise’s XRP ETF trails narrowly at $278 million — a gap thin enough that the rankings could easily shift with a few strong trading days. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have faced sustained selling pressure for months. New buyers have been hard to come by. XRP funds stepping into that environment and continuing to attract capital — rather than lose it — is a departure from what most of the market has been experiencing. Related Reading: Aave Crosses $1 Trillion In Loans — No Bank Required A Shift In Where Investors Are Looking Reports from Canary Capital suggest the pattern reflects something more than short-term trading behavior. Investors appear to be reallocating toward assets they see as having specific utility, with XRP’s established role in cross-border payments drawing attention from both institutional and retail buyers. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
As market participants focus on short-term price movements, Bitcoin is approaching a notable on-chain milestone, with the number of wallets holding at least 100 BTC climbing toward record levels. This growing concentration of high-value holdings reflects increasing accumulation by large investors, and is viewed as a sign of strong long-term confidence in the world’s leading cryptocurrency. How Large Holders Influence Bitcoin’s Market Cycles Bitcoin is approaching a major milestone, with the number of wallet addresses holding at least 100 BTC set to surpass 20,000. An on-chain analytics firm, Santiment, highlighted on X that at current market valuations, a wallet holding 100 BTC or more is valued at roughly $6.78 million, indicating these addresses are largely controlled by high-net-worth individuals, funds, long-term holders, and institutional participants. Related Reading: Bitcoin Holders Underwater As Supply In Loss Spikes, Reaching Historic Extremes When the number of 100+ BTC wallets increases during or shortly after price declines, as it has been recently, it can be considered a bullish signal. While the number of whale wallets is rising, the overall percentage of BTC supply held by key stakeholders has not meaningfully increased. This helps explain why prices have remained suppressed. However, the growth in 100+ BTC wallets indicates broader distribution among large holders rather than a small group controlling the consolidation. In that sense, it points to less extreme consolidation at the very top. At the same time, it also shows that wealth is clearly migrating from smaller retail wallets into stronger hands. This does not signal decentralization at the smallest ownership level, but it does show that more separate entities are reaching the whale status. Historically, expanding whale wallet counts have often appeared during accumulation phases that later support the price recoveries. For a stronger structural shift to occur, the increase in wallet numbers would need to be matched by a rise in the overall supply they control. That dynamic typically unfolds as retail participants slowly sell off their coins to larger wallets. Meanwhile, history has shown that if retail traders eventually panic-sell or take profit too early, it might lead to the absorption stage. Is This A True Rebound Or A Dead Bounce? Bitcoin adoption is picking up pace across the sector. According to ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, Bitcoin Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) just recorded their strongest day, pulling in roughly $500 million in a single day, reaching $750 million over the past two days combined at the time the report was published. Related Reading: Engine Stalled: How The $8 Billion ‘October Shock’ Left Bitcoin’s Spot Market In A Liquidity Trap Balchunas views the inflows as “a hitter in a slump going yard,” suggesting the market had been in urgent need of a catalyst after a prolonged period of weak performance. The strong back-to-back inflows have helped ease pressure on the sector, pushing year-to-date ETF outflows to under $2 billion. Despite the sharp turnaround, uncertainty remains about whether the inflow spike represents the beginning of a sustained recovery or merely a temporary bounce. Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com
The inflows coincide with a rebound in the Coinbase Premium index, signaling renewed U.S. demand.
In this week’s Crypto Long & Short Newsletter, Gregory Mall of Lionsoul Global on how ETFs have shifted a growing share of bitcoin volatility into U.S. equity options markets.
Bitcoin is heading toward an uncomfortable milestone, a potential fifth consecutive monthly decline if February closes in the red, and the setup is starting to look less like a crypto-specific drawdown and more like a macro-driven repricing. This five-month losing streak would be notable in the post-ETF era and would also be Bitcoin’s longest stretch […]
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Crypto ETP outflows have reached $4 billion over five weeks as trading volumes fell to their lowest level since July 2025, CoinShares said.
Outflows underscore persistent institutional wariness toward bitcoin after the early October crash.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs gave the market a clean, daily scoreboard: a green print meant fresh cash crossing the boundary from traditional brokerage accounts into Bitcoin exposure, and a red print meant the opposite. For much of the first year of spot ETFs in the US, that scoreboard tracked sentiment and set the market’s tempo. Traders […]
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A set of new ETF filings wants to turn election outcomes into brokerage-account tickers. If approved, they’d also make “political risk” a tradable product on the same rails that already carry spot Bitcoin ETFs, pulling attention, liquidity, and regulatory pressure into the same lane. Roundhill, GraniteShares, and Bitwise’s PredictionShares brand propose funds that track binary […]
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Under "Prediction Shares" branding, Bitwise filed to list two ETFs tracking prediction markets betting on the outcome of the 2028 presidential election.
The Nasdaq-listed SUIS fund offers direct exposure to Sui’s native token while passing through proof-of-stake rewards in a regulated ETF wrapper.
Bitwise filed for prediction market ETFs tied to the 2028 U.S. presidential election amid state regulatory scrutiny on the sector.
Bitcoin’s slide toward $60,000 came with the usual noise from exchanges, but the sheer size of the panic was evident somewhere else. Options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) traded about 2.33 million contracts in a single trading day, a record that arrived right as price was at its most unstable. At the same […]
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The filings include a bitcoin and ether ETF and a staking-focused Cronos fund, deepening the Truth Social brand’s ambitions in digital asset investing.
XRP and Bitcoin (BTC) were pitted against each other in a recent analysis, with market expert X Finance Bull revealing what early investors could have gained if they had invested $500 into both XRP and BTC in 2014. The analysis compares the performance of both cryptocurrencies over the years, highlighting the factors behind XRP’s growth and sustained momentum. What $500 In Bitcoin And XRP in 2014 Is Worth Today A new analysis by X Finance Bull reveals the dramatic growth potential of early investments in Bitcoin and XRP. According to the report, a $500 investment in XRP at the 2014 lows would be worth approximately $255,000 today. He compares XRP’s gains with those of Bitcoin, noting that if investors had bet the same amount in BTC in 2014, their investments would have grown to around $133,000. Related Reading: Analysts At Leading Wealth Manager Predict Bitcoin’s 2026 Price, And It’s Very Bullish These figures suggest that XRP outperformed Bitcoin by more than twice over the same period, delivering a 511-fold return, compared to BTC’s 266-fold gain. During that time, XRP’s performance benefited not only from early, steady adoption and speculative interest but also from the continued development of its underlying payment system. Over the years, XRP has moved beyond a purely speculative asset, gaining more traction as it evolves into a potential global settlement layer. Sharing similar sentiments, X Finance Bull highlighted how XRP’s infrastructure developments have significantly supported its significant price growth today. He noted that the cryptocurrency has seen major progress in areas such as Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), banking licenses, and enterprise-level adoption. Notably, XRP Spot ETFs officially launched in November 2025, attracting massive inflows that have significantly boosted demand for XRP among institutional investors. In addition, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved Ripple’s application to establish a national trust bank charter. All of these developments have contributed to XRP’s price growth over the past few months. Investors Reap Rewards For Holding XRP Through Volatility In his post, X Finance Bull suggested that investors who held onto their XRP positions through the volatile years “know why they held.” Following the cryptocurrency’s dramatic rally above $3, many investors reaped the rewards of staying invested from its lows and trusting in its potential for future price appreciation. Related Reading: XRP’s 1,500% Path To $24: Analyst Warns Investors To Be Prepared For When The Correction Resolves From 2018 to 2025, XRP struggled with a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). During those years of legal turmoil, many investors continued to hold onto their XRP despite the uncertainty and price stagnancy. Following Ripple’s legal win, XRP surpassed $3 in 2025, marking its first break above that level since 2018. Compared to XRP, Bitcoin has also experienced significant growth in the past few years. After crossing the $100,000 threshold in 2024, BTC continued its surge into 2025, finally hitting a peak above $126,000 in October. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from Tradingview.com
The cryptocurrency's latest sell-off looks more like a retreat from growth, according to the crypto asset management firm.
Early signs of market calm emerged as crypto fund outflows have cooled to $187 million after weeks of heavy withdrawals, per CoinShares.
Solana has suffered a sharp sell-off that’s left its chart looking fragile, with price sliding straight into a key demand zone. Despite the drop, big money remains notably cautious, signaling that institutions may be waiting for clearer direction before stepping in. Solana’s Sharp Breakdown Leaves the Weekly Chart on Edge AltCoin Việt Nam noted that Solana has already suffered a sharp sell-off, a move that is clearly reflected on the weekly chart. Price dropped aggressively from the higher range and is now trading around the $90–93 zone. The bounce so far appears weak, and volume is not signaling strong participation from large buyers stepping in to defend the move. Related Reading: Solana Accumulation Narrative Strengthens With Big Institutions, A Rally Imminent? What stood out most in the update was the behavior of institutional players. Despite the lower prices, institutional ETFs have shown little interest in accumulating SOL in this zone. This contrasts sharply with earlier phases, when they were buying aggressively at much higher levels. Addressing questions from the community about whether institutions “knew” the crash was coming, AltCoin Việt Nam explained that this is not necessarily the case. Instead, institutional behavior simply differs from that of retail traders. Their decisions are driven more by trend structure, liquidity conditions, and capital flows than by attempts to predict exact price bottoms. Firstly, ETFs typically do not dollar-cost average in the same way retail investors do. When momentum is strong and inflows are active, they are willing to buy at higher prices to maintain exposure. However, once the trend breaks and volatility rises, waiting for clarity becomes more important than trying to catch the bottom. For institutions, entering at the right time with renewed momentum matters far more than buying at the lowest possible price. Finally, AltCoin Việt Nam highlighted that ETF accumulation is also dependent on capital inflows. Without fresh money entering the funds, there is little incentive or ability for them to add positions, even at discounted prices. For retail participants, the approach may differ. Short-term traders should not expect immediate institutional support, as large players currently have no urgency to step in. Step-Down Decline Brings SOL Into Key Demand Zone According to an update by BitGuru, Solana has been moving lower in a series of step-down declines, reflecting sustained bearish pressure. Price has now reached a key demand zone between $90 and $95, an area where buyers have previously stepped in to defend the market. Related Reading: Solana To Retest November Lows After $144 Rejection, But Analysts Remain Bullish BitGurun noted that selling pressure appears to be easing as SOL trades within this range, suggesting that the market is attempting to form a short-term base. If this demand zone continues to hold, BitGuru believes a relief move toward prior structural levels becomes increasingly likely. Such a move would represent a technical rebound rather than a full trend reversal. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
Recent market data has shown that Bitcoin has been trading at an extended discount on Coinbase. Over the past several months, this negative premium, where BTC prices on Coinbase sit below the international average level, has remained consistent. Such prolonged discounts have historically coincided with periods of market uncertainty or late-stage corrections. How Coinbase Premium Remains Negative For Months Bitcoin has been trading at a persistent discount on Coinbase for the past 3 months. A full-time crypto trader and investor, Daan Crypto Trades, has pointed out on X that this typically reflects large ETF outflows and sustained selling pressure from the US-based investors, which has put pressure on a discount to appear. Related Reading: Oct. 10 Started The Bitcoin Bear Market, On-Chain Data Shows These conditions are not unusual and have appeared nearly every market downturn or larger range. Thus, this broader market recovery needs the support of ETF inflows and renewed bidding from the US investors to surge higher. For this reason, monitoring the Coinbase premium and discount is important to know when the price flips around. A stronger directional trend combined with steep discounts or premiums often reinforces the prevailing market move. A Relief Rally Could Buy The Market Time Until October Bitcoin has now broken below its April 2025 low, placing the market at an important inflection point. The CEO and founder of ITC_Crypto, Benjamin Cowen, noted that if the price fails to bounce soon, this could turn into a difficult midterm year. However, if the price can bounce back, it would likely provide the market several months of relief, pushing price action to October and potentially aligning with a more durable bottoming process. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Lack Of New Capital Leaves It Vulnerable To Continued Selling Pressure According to Benjamin, the bearish narrative has been dominant for an extended period, which increases the probability of a countertrend rally that could temporarily restore confidence among bulls. Meanwhile, Benjamin has cautioned against attempting to trade such moves. Furthermore, countertrend rallies often occur unexpectedly, not when market participants are actively anticipating them. A sweep of prior lows would offer short-term relief, even during the bull market. In 2014, 2018, and 2022, when BTC broke below the 100-week Simple Moving Average (SMA), the price moved straight down to the 200-week SMA before any meaningful relief occurred. From a broader perspective, Benjamin emphasized that the optimal time to sell BTC was late last year, not during panic-driven sell-offs in a midterm year. His focus remains on the larger cycle, suggesting that late Q3 to early Q4 will be a more favorable window to move real money back into the market. Until then, it is just traders trying to make money during difficult times, attempting to trade the support and resistance levels. Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com
ProShares has listed KRYP, the first U.S. ETF designed to track the CoinDesk 20 Index, giving investors exposure to the largest and most liquid cryptocurrencies.
Prices have been falling since early 2025, masked by institutional flows, but history suggests the worst may already be behind us, Bitwise said.
Bitcoin slid hard over the weekend and stayed low into Monday, leaving traders on edge and pushing many to reduce risk. Prices slipped from roughly $84,000 to about $74,600 in a matter of days, a drop that erased a chunk of recent gains and forced quick reassessments across markets. Nervousness around Federal Reserve leadership, rising job worries, and fresh geopolitical flashpoints all piled up at once. Related Reading: Gold Vs. XRP: One Asset Just Added 20x The Other’s Market Value Average ETF Price Above Market According to Coinglass, the combined assets of US spot Bitcoin ETFs sit near $113 billion, while reports note they hold around 1.28 million BTC. Based on those figures, the typical ETF buying price works out to an average of roughly $87,830 per coin — well above current trading levels. That gap means many ETF positions are showing losses on paper right now. Some funds kept buying earlier and are holding positions that are underwater. BTC is trading below the U.S. ETFs avg cost basis after the 2nd & 3rd biggest outflow weeks ever (last week and week before) (and last week’s outflow will increase after IBIT reports friday’s numbers tomorrow) this means the average bitcoin ETF purchase is underwater pic.twitter.com/XowzrnBaSM — Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) February 2, 2026 Outflows Pick Up Over the last two weeks, investors pulled close to $3 billion from the 11 spot ETFs, with one week seeing $1.50 billion leave and the prior week $1.30 billion, according to CoinGlass. Those moves suggest some market participants are locking in gains or cutting exposure after the recent run-up. At the same time, cumulative ETF inflows remain materially lower than earlier peaks; buying has not fully come back even as some holders remain steady. Technical Signals And Bear Fears Reports note that spot BTC is down roughly 40% from its October peak while ETF AUM has fallen by about 31%. That divergence has analysts warning that sustained weak demand could push Bitcoin into a deeper downtrend. Technical charts show longer-term sell pressure building in certain measures. If demand fails to reappear, momentum could carry prices lower and extend selling across crypto markets. Policy, Politics, And Market Mood Market watchers point to extra uncertainty around monetary policy and geopolitics as fuel for the recent moves. Reports have disclosed that the proposed US Clarity Act stalled in Washington. At the same time, headlines about tensions in the Middle East and trade friction added to a rush for traditional safe havens like gold and the dollar. Even a hint of policy change matters: US President Donald Trump’s choice for the next Fed chair was discussed by investors as another factor shaping expectations. Related Reading: Crypto Funds Bleed $1.80 Billion As Metals Rally Heats Up Liquidity And The Road Ahead Institutional holders have not all capitulated. Many have been described as holding on, which can cushion sharp drops. But when the average cost basis for major ETF holders is above the current market price, confidence can be fragile. Liquidity has thinned in certain windows, and that makes price swings larger. A recovery requires renewed buying from both retail and big investors, otherwise sellers may dictate direction for longer. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin’s slide below $80,000 has pushed a significant portion of US spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) buyers into $7 billion in paper losses. According to CryptoSlate's data, the world’s largest digital asset fell to as low as $74,609 over the weekend amid liquidity concerns and a risk-off tone in global markets. BTC has recovered to approximately $77,649 as […]
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Spot ETF investors are now sitting on paper losses, which sets the stage for potential large redemptions.
Bitcoin’s Thursday slide was a perfect illustration of a market that lost its marginal buyer and then discovered, in real time, how much leverage was sitting on top of that demand. The move wasn't a smooth ride lower; it came in sharp legs that pushed the price from $84,400 toward the low-$81,000s in a matter […]
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Bitcoin traders are aggressively positioning for a US government shutdown that could begin Jan. 31 if Congress fails to extend funding that expires Jan. 30. The urgency of the setup is visible in prediction markets, where odds changes have become tradable headlines in their own right. Shutdown contracts on prediction platforms like Polymarket have swung […]
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