Even as crypto markets try to put on a brave face this week, institutional investors clearly are not buying it. Yesterday, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded another round of outflows, marking the sixth straight day of capital flight from these funds.
Despite the broader market’s attempt at a short-term rebound, the continued withdrawals suggest that institutional sentiment remains cautious. The consistent outflows paint a picture of investors seeking safety or perhaps just sitting on the sidelines while volatility does its thing.
Bitcoin ETFs Continue Losing Streak
On Thursday, net outflows from BTC ETFs totaled $149.66 million, reflecting a 17% increase from the $127.12 million in outflows seen on Wednesday.
This marked the sixth consecutive day of withdrawals from spot Bitcoin ETF funds, highlighting the growing caution and weakening sentiment among institutional BTC investors.
According to SosoValue, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF $BTC recorded the highest net inflow on that day, totaling $9.87 million, bringing the fund’s historical net inflow to $1.15 billion.
On the other hand, Fidelity’s ETF FBTC witnessed the highest net outflow on Wednesday, totaling $74.67 million. As of this writing, its total historical net inflow is $11.40 billion.
Derivatives Market Remain Optimistic
Meanwhile, BTC futures open interest has taken a modest hit, in line with the broader market dip. At press time, it stands at $51.73 billion, falling by 7% over the past day. This comes amid the decline in broader cryptocurrency market activity over the past 24 hours, during which BTC’s value has dipped by 2%.
A drop in open interest during a price decline suggests that traders are closing out positions rather than opening new ones. This indicates a possible bottoming phase or reduced volatility ahead.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Funding rates remain positive, and call options are in high demand, both considered bullish signals.
At press time, BTC’s funding rate stands at 0.0015%. The funding rate is a recurring payment exchanged between long and short traders in perpetual futures markets to keep contract prices aligned with the spot market. A positive funding rate like this indicates that long traders pay short traders, signaling that bullish sentiment is dominant.
In the options market, there is a high demand for calls over puts, further reflecting a bullish bias toward BTC.
The divergence between ETF flows and derivatives activity recorded this week suggests that while traditional institutions may be scaling back exposure, retail and leveraged traders continue to bet on rebounds.
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