U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $430.2 million in net redemptions on Thursday, as a 5.5% drop in the Nasdaq Composite pulled crypto assets into a broader risk-off move. Fidelity's FBTC and BlackRock's IBIT accounted for roughly 71% of the outflows, according to data from Farside Investors, underscoring how quickly the brokerage-wrapper convenience that fueled inflows can reverse when equity portfolios come under pressure.
The numbers behind the bleed
Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund posted $199.9 million in net outflows, a sharp reversal from the $236.7 million it attracted a day earlier. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust shed $105 million, extending a five-session streak of redemptions that began on October 30 and now totals roughly $1.04 billion. Grayscale's GBTC lost another $49.9 million and Franklin Templeton's EZBC gave up $32.9 million. Not a single fund in Farside's table showed positive net flows for the session. The week's cumulative outflow reached $869.8 million, following a $643.2 million exit last Friday.
Equity selloff sets the backdrop
The Nasdaq's 5.5% decline and the S&P 500's 4.4% drop were led by chipmakers and data-center stocks as investors reassessed the pace of artificial-intelligence spending and digested potential policy shifts after the U.S. midterm elections. Bitcoin, which had rallied above $80,000 on Wednesday aided by short covering, retreated toward $76,000. The correlation between tech equities and the largest crypto asset, long debated, played out in real time across both the spot market and the ETF wrapper.
Flows measure creations, not motives
Net flow figures capture shares created or redeemed at the fund level; they do not distinguish between investors raising cash to cover margin calls elsewhere, trimming a tactical Bitcoin position, or rebalancing a diversified portfolio. The same structure that allows retail and institutional buyers to access Bitcoin without custodying coins also lets them exit in seconds during a brokerage-hour panic. Thursday's data adds a measurable layer to the anecdotal observation that crypto has become a liquidity sleeve for equity investors, easy to enter, just as easy to leave.