U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds ended the week with roughly $1.26 billion in cumulative net outflows, marking the heaviest weekly drain since late January. The outflow streak capped a six-day total of $1.55 billion, according to SoSoValue data. Spot ether ETFs experienced a longer outflow streak despite a smaller dollar impact, posting $216 million in combined weekly outflows and extending their consecutive outflow run to 10 sessions—the category's most sustained outflow streak since March 2025. The outflows occurred as Treasury yields hit 12-month highs, the dollar strengthened, and geopolitical tensions escalated, according to Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue Research Institute. The structural backdrop for cryptocurrency markets has apparently been deteriorating for weeks, with corporate treasury buyers pulling back roughly 80% in purchase volume month-over-month as of mid-May, leaving ETFs as one of the only institutional demand channels still active.
Bitcoin ETF Outflows by Day
The 12 U.S.-based bitcoin funds lost a combined $648.6 million on Monday alone, the largest single-day outflow since January 29, when bitcoin slipped below $77,000 following President Trump's latest Iran threat. Outflows eased after Monday but never turned positive throughout the week:
- Tuesday: $331 million
- Wednesday: $70.5 million
- Thursday: $100.8 million
- Friday: $105.2 million
Price Action and Market Conditions
Bitcoin opened Friday around $77,550 and ether around $2,130, with both assets holding tight ranges since Monday's open. Bitcoin's intraweek band came in under $1,000. Ether barely moved from Monday to Friday but dropped approximately 3.3% over the 24 hours following Friday's ETF market close.
Issuer-Level Disparities
Asymmetries emerged at the individual fund level. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, which leads the market in assets under management, closed Friday with $61.1 billion in net assets against $64.8 billion in cumulative net inflows, placing current market value roughly $3.7 billion below the dollars investors have put in. Fidelity's FBTC, by contrast, still carries approximately $3.2 billion in net assets above cumulative inflows.
Ether ETF Outflow Streak
The nine spot ether ETF funds have now pulled cumulative net inflows down to $11.62 billion against $11.84 billion in net assets. The funds' net assets sit just $223 million above their cumulative inflows, reflecting sustained withdrawal pressure.
Broader Market Backdrop
Aggregate cumulative volume delta on bitcoin's spot order books ran negative for nine consecutive sessions through May 19, the longest sustained net-selling stretch of 2026 according to a Nexo note. This thinning of the spot bid followed the significant pullback in corporate treasury purchases.
Current ETF Holdings
Despite the week's losses, spot bitcoin ETFs still hold $57.1 billion in cumulative net inflows and $98.9 billion in total net assets across all 12 funds. BlackRock's IBIT alone accounts for 4% of bitcoin's circulating supply.
