U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $430.2 million in net outflows on Thursday, November 5. Fidelity and BlackRock funds accounted for most of the withdrawals, according to SoSoValue data. Selling regained momentum after Wednesday’s modest inflows, bringing total net outflows for the first four days of the week to $869.8 million.
Steep losses in technology stocks also weakened risk appetite across the crypto market. Bitcoin retested $76,000 on Friday after falling below that level on Thursday.
Fidelity and BlackRock led Bitcoin ETF outflows
Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin fund, FBTC, recorded Thursday’s largest outflow. Investors withdrew a net $199.9 million from the fund, while BlackRock’s IBIT registered $105 million in outflows.
Combined withdrawals from the two funds reached $304.9 million. Fidelity and BlackRock therefore accounted for approximately 71% of the day’s total net outflows.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs had attracted $74.6 million in net inflows on Wednesday. However, Thursday’s outflows were roughly 5.8 times that amount, suggesting the previous day’s recovery had failed to translate into sustained demand for the funds.
Total net outflows for the week through Thursday rose to $869.8 million. This figure excludes Friday’s session, meaning the final weekly balance will depend on flows during the last trading day.
Alongside Bitcoin’s price movements, ETF flows provide a useful gauge of investor demand in the U.S. market. Wednesday’s limited inflows, followed by substantially larger withdrawals, highlight the fragility of the recovery.
Tech selloff weighed on fund demand
The ETF outflows coincided with a session of heavy losses on Wall Street. The Nasdaq fell 5.5% on Thursday, while the S&P 500 declined approximately 4.3%.
FalconX and GSR analysts linked the selloff to concerns that Democrats’ midterm election gains could slow AI data-center construction. Questions over the returns on large infrastructure investments added to the pressure on technology stocks.
Against this backdrop, Bitcoin erased Wednesday’s post-election gains. Despite returning to the $76,000 level on Friday, it remained down more than 5.3% over the preceding 24 hours at the time of writing.
U.S. demand remained weak during the recovery
Derivatives activity and price differences between exchanges also painted a cautious picture during Wednesday’s rally. Open interest in Bitcoin futures remained broadly flat despite the recovery.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded at a discount on Coinbase relative to Binance. This sign of subdued U.S. buying demand, alongside limited ETF inflows, suggested the rally lacked strong demand support.
Liquidations of leveraged positions accelerated the decline. According to CoinGlass, $1.26 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, including approximately $1.12 billion in long positions, or bets on higher prices.
Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at XS.com, said the stock-market selloff had increased pressure to reduce portfolio leverage. According to Massabni, asset managers were also liquidating alternative investments to meet margin calls.
Despite Bitcoin’s recovery toward $76,000, ETF flows have yet to signal a sustained turnaround in demand.
