bitcoin Spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have fallen out of favor with investors and how.
The total dollar value of the net assets of the 11 spot ETFs was $77.58 billion as of June 9. That’s the same level seen just after President Donald Trump won the presidential election in early November 2024.
This is not to say that ETFs did not grow in the 19-month period. Hopes that Trump would deliver on his campaign promise of friendlier crypto regulation helped boost bitcoin, along with ETF assets. Total net assets surpassed $90 billion a week after this election victory and reached a record $169.54 billion in October 2025.
But these post-election gains have since been erased even though the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), under the Trump administration, abandoned several high-profile enforcement actions. The United States has established a strategic reserve of bitcoins and, in addition, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which seeks to establish jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC and give the industry legal weight, is advancing in Washington.
In other words, the regulatory environment has never been more favorable, but investors’ response has been to leave, driving down net assets.
These ETFs have seen a net outflow of more than $5 billion in four weeks. Cumulative net inflows since inception, which peaked at $62.77 billion in October 2025, when bitcoin was at its all-time high, have since declined by nearly $9 billion to $53.77 billion, the lowest since August last year.
Analysts blame macroeconomic factors, especially high inflation, for the recent capital outflows from ETFs.
“ETF outflows reflected near-term pressure as inflation prompts the Federal Reserve to be more aggressive, while on-chain supply tightening remains intact,” Binance Research said in a report shared with CoinDesk.
Market analyst and former 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder said AI and other trending corners of the financial market are draining capital from cryptocurrencies.
“There are outflows from ETFs as investors become increasingly distracted by other narratives competing for attention and capital, whether AI, SpaceX or other high-profile growth stories. There are ongoing concerns in the market around geopolitics, the Strait of Hormuz, US jobs data, inflation and broader macroeconomic uncertainty,” he said in an email.
