U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen record outflows over the past four months, confirming that a mature cryptocurrency market is taking shape.
Investors have withdrawn $6.39 billion from Bitcoin ETFs amid four consecutive months of outflows, the longest streak of monthly losses since the fund was launched in January 2024, according to data source SoSoValue.
The Ethereum ETF has also fallen out of favor, losing $2.76 billion in the past four months.
These huge outflows indicate that institutional interest in digital assets has collapsed, explaining the price losses for both tokens. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, peaked above $126,000 in early October and has since nearly halved to $67,000. Ethereum has suffered an even steeper decline, down more than 60% from last August’s high of over $4,950.
Since their debut in early 2024, alternative investment vehicles such as spot ETFs have become the clearest and most visible source of continued institutional activity. Investors poured billions of dollars into 2024 and in the months following crypto-supporting Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory, fueling a bull run for both tokens at the time.
However, demand disappeared after the crash in early October, which was allegedly due to pricing inefficiencies on offshore exchange Binance. There have been sporadic inflows in recent days, but analysts say any meaningful market rebound will require a sustained trend.
