Bitcoin ETFs see $104 million in outflows as Ethereum funds add $170 million

U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds exhibited contrasting fortunes on Wednesday as participants continue to tread carefully in the wake of Friday's historic flash crash.

The Bitcoin ETFs registered $104.1 million in net outflows on Oct. 15, negating the $102.7 million gains they made on Tuesday and continuing the back-and-forth flow data witnessed since last week's market turmoil.

Grayscale's GBTC led the outflows with $82.9 million, followed by Invesco's BTCO with $11.1 million, according to data compiled by The Block. BlackRock's delayed flow data subsequently confirmed its IBIT fund also saw $10.1 million exit, while the other ETFs experienced zero flows for the day.

In contrast, the Ethereum ETFs attracted $169.6 million combined on Wednesday, led by $164.3 million worth of net inflows into BlackRock's ETHA.

Bitwise's ETHW and Fidelity's FETH also added $12.3 million and $1 million, respectively, while 21Shares' CETH saw the only outflows of $8 million, and the remaining funds generated zero flows.

Since Friday, the Bitcoin ETFs have experienced $332.3 million in net outflows, and the Ethereum ETFs have seen a total of $197.6 million exit.

Traders remain cautious

The turmoil began late Friday after Trump posted on Truth Social that he would impose 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports, responding to China's threat to cut off exports of rare earth metals, which are critical to U.S. technology manufacturing.

At its worst, Bitcoin fell 15% toward $100,000 on some exchanges, while Ethereum dropped over 20% and the broader crypto market witnessed more substantial losses. Cascading liquidations saw at least $20 billion of positions wiped out as some cryptocurrencies briefly fell literally to zero — the largest crypto liquidation event in history in U.S. dollar terms. As liquidation data is imperfect, with some exchanges still underreporting in incomplete bursts, the true figure is likely far higher.

While Bitcoin recovered to around $115,000 by Monday morning after Trump seemingly attempted to de-escalate the issue, tensions continue, and it has since retraced to around $111,357, according to The Block's BTC price page — down 9.2% in the past week. Other cryptocurrencies have similarly struggled amid the uncertainty, with Ethereum currently trading for $4,046 — down 7.4% over the same period.

"Structural effects from the unwind mean liquidity will likely stay thin as market participants recover from forced selling," K33 Head of Research Vetle Lunde said earlier this week. "Historically, such deleveraging phases lead to short-term stagnation and cautious trading, but they also tend to mark exhaustion points, creating fertile ground for longer-term recovery once stability returns."