Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Massive Fund Outflows During Christmas Week

Bitcoin ETFs suffered a net outflow of $782 million due to holiday positioning.

US spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced massive outflows during the week leading up to Christmas. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of $782 million (approximately 1.1 trillion won) during the week alone, according to a report on the 28th.

According to market data firm SoSoValue, the largest single outflow occurred on the 27th, with spot Bitcoin ETFs experiencing a net outflow of $276 million (approximately 370 billion won) that day. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw the largest outflow, losing approximately $193 million, while Fidelity's FBTC also saw a net outflow of $74 million. Grayscale's GBTC also saw a steady flow of redemptions.

This has reduced the total net assets of US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs to approximately $113.5 billion. This represents a decline from the high of over $120 billion recorded in early December, and contrasts with the relatively stable Bitcoin price of around $87,000. Notably, this outflow represents six consecutive trading days of net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs, the longest streak since early fall. Cumulative outflows during this period exceeded $1.1 billion.

The market is focusing on seasonal factors rather than simply attributing this to weakened institutional demand. Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer at Kronos Research, explained that liquidity thinning and position adjustments are common during the Christmas holiday period. He predicted that capital flows will likely recover once institutional desks return to normal operations early in the year.

However, some analysis firms are offering a more cautious interpretation. Glassnode recently analyzed in a report that both spot Bitcoin ETFs and Ethereum ETFs have entered a medium-term net outflow phase. As ETFs are considered a representative indicator of institutional investor sentiment, some argue that if this trend persists, it could be interpreted as a signal that institutional funds are reducing their exposure to cryptocurrency.

We are closely watching the fund flows in early January to determine whether this ETF fund movement, which was driven by year-end holiday factors and macroeconomic changes, represents a temporary adjustment or a sign of a shift in institutional investment trends.

Reporter Jeong Ha-yeon yomwork8824@blockstreet.co.kr