Spot Bitcoin ETFs post $523 million in daily outflows, Ethereum ETFs shed $422 million as macro factors prompt investor repositioning

U.S. spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds reported significant net outflows on Tuesday as institutional investors reposition holdings ahead of key macroeconomic events.

According to data from SoSoValue, spot bitcoin ETFs saw total daily net outflows of $523 million, excluding data from Invesco's BTCO, which remains unpublished.

Fidelity's FBTC saw $246.9 million worth of negative flows on Tuesday, while Grayscale's GBTC reported $115.53 million in net outflows. Funds from Bitwise, Ark & 21Shares also saw sizable net outflows. BlackRock's IBIT recorded zero flows for the day.

Spot ether ETFs reported $422.3 million worth of total net outflows, also led by Fidelity's FETH fund, which saw $156.32 million in negative flows. Grayscale's ETHE had $122 million worth of net outflows, and the Grayscale Mini Ethereum Trust had $88.5 million in outflows.

Yesterday's flows marked the second-largest total net outflows from spot ether ETFs since their launch.

"U.S. spot crypto ETFs experienced some of their largest redemptions since launch," said Rachael Lucas, crypto analyst at BTC Markets. "The scale of these outflows suggests a shift in institutional positioning, either funds are rotating out to lock in profits at recent highs and reallocate into cash or Treasuries, or we are seeing a broader de-risking response to renewed inflation concerns, stronger U.S. dollar moves and uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s policy path."

While traders initially were hoping for the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September, last week's hotter-than-expected producer price index (PPI) eroded market confidence to a certain level.

Now investors are waiting for further macro signals, including the meeting minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in July to be released later today, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech on Friday.

As spot ETFs require issuers to redeem shares and sell the underlying assets, Lucas said the outflows translate into real selling pressure in both BTC and ETH.

"For prices, the short-term implication is clear: redemptions create a drag on spot markets, particularly when the flows are heavy relative to trading volumes," Lucas said. "This keeps sentiment cautious until there is greater clarity on inflation data, Fed policy, and whether ETF flows stabilize."

Bitcoin and Ether both slid further down in the past day. BTC is down 1.57% to trade at $113,500, while Ether declined 1.54% to $4,163 as of early morning Wednesday.

In the medium-term, however, ETFs remain structurally important to crypto prices, as they hold 6.47% of bitcoin's total market capitalization and 5.17% of Ethereum's, Lucas said. The analyst also pointed out that continued buying from crypto treasury corporations suggests that demand is not collapsing but rather rebalancing.

"The bottom line: Bitcoin is contending with short-term headwinds, but whale accumulation is cushioning the downside," Lucas said. "Ethereum faces steeper institutional outflows, leaving it more vulnerable to relative underperformance." 

Future flows depend on the key macro indicators this week, where a dovish stance from the Fed could reverse flows to positive, Lucas added.