US-listed bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen record outflows over the past four months, confirming that a full-fledged crypto market is underway.
Investors have withdrawn $6.39 billion from bitcoin ETFs during four consecutive months of outflows, the longest streak of monthly losses since the funds launched in January 2024, according to data source SoSoValue.
Ether ETFs have also fallen out of favor, losing $2.76 billion in the last 4 months.
These huge outflows indicate that institutional appetite for digital assets has collapsed, explaining the price losses of the two tokens. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, peaked at more than $126,000 in early October and has since nearly halved to $67,000. Ether has seen a much steeper decline, down more than 60% from highs above $4,950 in August last year.
Alternative investment vehicles, such as spot ETFs, emerged as the clearest and most observable source of sustained institutional activity after their debut in early 2024. Investors poured billions into 2024 and in the months following pro-cryptocurrency Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, fueling the bull market for both tokens at the time.
However, demand evaporated after the early October crash, which was reportedly caused by pricing inefficiencies on offshore exchange Binance. Recent days have seen sporadic inflows, but analysts say a sustained trend is needed for any significant market rebound.
