bitcoin etf outflows Hit $643M, October Ends Negative

The bitcoin etf outflows on October 30 erased a full week of gains in one session. US spot bitcoin ETFs saw about $643.2 million in net outflows on Friday, according to Farside Investors data reported by crypto.news and CryptoSlate. That was the largest single-day withdrawal since June and it pushed both the week and the whole month of October into the red.

What actually happened

Friday was the first full trading session after Binance disclosed its roughly $6.3 billion hack. Bitcoin had slid below $77,000, AI-linked tech stocks were selling off, and ETF investors headed for the exit.

Five of the 12 bitcoin funds in Farside's table recorded withdrawals, while the other seven showed zero flows and none attracted new money, CryptoSlate noted. The split by issuer looked like this:

• IBIT (BlackRock): about $233.7 million out
• FBTC (Fidelity): about $201 million out
• ARKB (ARK 21Shares): about $129.5 million out
• GBTC (Grayscale): about $53.3 million out
• BITB (Bitwise): about $25.7 million out

According to crypto.news, BlackRock, Fidelity and ARK together accounted for about $564.2 million, or roughly 87.7% of the day's total. The outflow narrowly beat the $635.6 million withdrawn on October 22. Farside's history shows a larger $691.7 million exit on June 25.

The days before Friday tell their own story. Daily inflows started at about $110.3 million on Monday, rose to $176 million on Tuesday and came in at $137.3 million on Wednesday, then slowed sharply to $17.2 million on Thursday, the day the Binance breach became public. In hindsight, Thursday's near-stall was the warning sign before Friday's reversal.

Glassnode's Frederik Theissen had also described ETF trading as subdued before the selloff, with daily turnover averaging about $1.3 billion since May and dropping to around $700 million on October 23, crypto.news reported. Thin activity can make a single heavy day look even more dramatic.

How the month ended

The bitcoin etf outflows flipped October from positive to negative. Adding Farside's rounded daily totals, crypto.news puts October's net outflow at about $515.9 million, after the month had still been up about $127.3 million before Friday.

The split between issuers is striking. Over October, IBIT pulled in about $932.1 million while the remaining bitcoin funds collectively lost about $1.45 billion. Even after Friday, BlackRock finished the week with roughly $176.9 million in net inflows, while Fidelity ended it with about $166 million out.

Ether funds had a rougher month. They were negative in every session from October 26 to 30, losing about $431.4 million over the week and roughly $1.61 billion across October, according to the same report.

One bad Friday undid four good days. The bigger story is that money keeps concentrating in IBIT while rivals bleed.

Why it matters for price

ETF flows are one of the clearest windows into institutional demand. Glassnode estimated in an October 28 report that the average purchase price of bitcoin held by US spot ETFs is about $81,500, crypto.news reported. With BTC trading in the $77,000s, the average ETF holder is under water, which can make some investors quicker to cut exposure on bad news.

Context still matters. Crypto Briefing notes that cumulative net inflows since the January 2024 launch stand at around $57 billion, and total ETF assets have ranged between $98 billion and $104 billion. A $643 million day is a dent, not a collapse.

We covered the ether side in ethereum etf outflows, and the weekend price ladder in bitcoin november 1.

What to watch on Monday

Monday is the first session where ETF investors can react to the FBI's attribution of the hack and Binance's phased withdrawal restart. A return to inflows would suggest Friday was a panic day. A second large outflow would point to a deeper shift in sentiment heading into the US midterms on November 3.

What to do as a reader

Track daily flows from a primary source such as Farside Investors, and remember the data posts after US markets close.

Do not read one day as a trend. Look at weekly and monthly totals, and at which issuers are gaining or losing.

Remember that bitcoin etf outflows describe what other investors did, not what you should do. Nothing here is investment advice.