Bitcoin and Ether ETFs Shed $1.22 Billion in a Week as Institutions Pull Back
US spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds suffered their heaviest weekly redemptions in months, shedding a combined $1.22 billion in the week of October 5–9 as institutional investors retreated from risk amid surging Treasury yields and Middle East tensions. The outflows ended three consecutive weeks of net inflows for Bitcoin funds and extended Ether’s losing streak to nine straight sessions.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $681 million in net redemptions for the week, according to SoSoValue data cited by Cointelegraph and CryptoCompass, while Ethereum ETFs lost $542 million. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust accounted for $477 million of the Ether withdrawals — roughly 88 per cent of the week’s total. Bitcoin fell to $80,427 on October 8, its lowest in weeks, before steadying near $82,500 — about 35 per cent below its $126,080 all-time high set on October 6, 2025.
Yields, liquidations and a hawkish Fed
Three pressures converged on crypto at once. Hawkish Federal Reserve meeting minutes signalled potential interest-rate hikes rather than cuts; the 10-year Treasury yield hit a 24-year high of 5.35 per cent on October 9; and geopolitical friction in the Middle East dampened risk appetite across markets. Leveraged traders amplified the slide: derivatives data show the decline was driven mainly by long liquidations, with $90.96 million in Ether liquidations over 24 hours — 90 per cent of them longs — as crowded bullish positioning unwound.
ETF flows are an imperfect lens — redemptions do not translate one-for-one into spot selling — but persistent withdrawals signal weakening institutional demand for the products that carried crypto’s 2024–2025 rally. Bitcoin funds’ cumulative net inflows have slipped about 5.8 per cent from their peak to $57.7 billion, a reminder of how quickly sentiment can reverse when macro shocks rattle technology-linked assets.
What comes next
Traders now look to two near-term catalysts: the September CPI report due Wednesday, October 14, and the Federal Reserve’s October 27–28 meeting, both of which will shape expectations for borrowing costs. Analysts note Bitcoin is hovering near the estimated $81,200–$82,200 breakeven range for BlackRock’s IBIT — a sustained break below that cost basis could trigger further institutional selling until daily flows turn positive.
There are counter-currents. Thailand’s securities regulator has approved domestic Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, with trading set to begin October 16 on the Stock Exchange of Thailand — a small but symbolic expansion of regulated crypto access in Asia. And with hardware makers already trimming orders as component costs climb, the broader tech complex is repricing risk in unison. Whether crypto’s institutional bid returns may depend less on crypto itself than on what the Fed says next.
