Crypto ETFs Lose $610 Million in a Week as Ether Funds Lead Exits

Money is leaving US crypto funds for a second week in a row, and this time Ethereum is taking the bigger hit. Exchange traded funds tracking crypto assets in the United States recorded $610.7 million in net outflows in the trading week that ended on Friday, October 16, according to tallies built from Farside Investors data.

Ethereum products lost $320.1 million over the week, the largest share of the total. BlackRock's ETHA fund accounted for $299 million of that figure on its own. The worst single day was Wednesday, when Ethereum funds lost $129.5 million. Bitcoin funds lost $228.4 million across the week, even after a strong Tuesday brought in $175.7 million. Wednesday took out $261.4 million, and Friday closed the week with another $82.4 million leaving.

On Friday alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $82.39 million and spot Ethereum ETFs lost $69.68 million, a combined $152 million in one session. BlackRock's IBIT, the largest Bitcoin fund, supplied $71.78 million of the Bitcoin outflow on that day, according to CoinTurk's read of the flow tables. It was the third straight day of withdrawals for Ethereum funds. Smaller products followed the same pattern, with Solana funds losing $12.67 million and XRP funds $2.47 million on Friday.

Why it matters

The flows mark a clear change of mood from September, when Bitcoin funds took in about $2.6 billion. Through the middle of October, Bitcoin funds have given back roughly $535 million. Traders have been dealing with oil near $110 a barrel, a hot inflation print and an AI stock selloff that has run for eight straight sessions in chip shares. In that setting, crypto funds are being treated as a risk position to trim, not a shelter.

Scale still matters. The Bitcoin ETF complex holds roughly $104 billion to $106 billion in assets and more than 1.27 million bitcoin. Since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the United States in January 2024, cumulative net inflows stand near $57 billion. A $610.7 million week is real money, but it is a small share of what has flowed in since launch, and weekly outflows were down 52.5 percent from the $1.29 billion that left in the prior week.

What happens next

Bitcoin traded near $81,700 on Sunday and Ethereum between $2,400 and $2,500, both little changed over the weekend. The next test for fund flows is the Federal Reserve meeting at the end of October. A calm message on rates would give risk assets room to recover. Another hot data print, or a signal that rate cuts are off the table for longer, would likely keep the exits going into November.