Bitcoin showcased a trading price just above $78,000 on Sunday, which may have come as a surprise given the events of the previous week.
On Friday, October 30, U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced massive outflows totaling $798.9 million, effectively erasing four days of gains. As of around 09:18 UTC on November 1, Bitcoin was priced at $78,052.39 on Coinbase, reflecting a 0.95 percent increase in the last 24 hours, while Ether reached $2,270.70, marking a 1.27 percent rise. These figures pertain to a weekend when ETF markets were inactive, meaning the two sets of data represent different time periods. While Friday saw significant selling pressure, Bitcoin remained resilient through Sunday, which is a critical aspect to consider.
Friday erases a week’s worth of gains
Farside Investors reported that net outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $643.2 million on October 30, marking the largest single-day withdrawal since June. This sharp outflow followed net inflows of $440.8 million during the previous four days (October 26 to October 29). Thus, Friday’s trading session wiped out all previous gains, leaving a net outflow of $202.4 million for the week. BlackRock’s IBIT was responsible for $233.7 million of the outflow, with Fidelity’s FBTC losing $201 million and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB shedding $129.5 million. These three funds accounted for about $564.2 million, nearly 87.7 percent, of the day’s total, suggesting that the selling was concentrated among major players rather than a widespread panic.
Ether’s struggles exceed those of Bitcoin
Ether ETFs faced relentless selling last week, experiencing a loss of $155.7 million on Friday alone. This pushed their total losses for the week of October 26-30 to $431.4 million, with no positive sessions recorded during that time. In total, Ether ETFs saw approximately $1.61 billion in net outflows for October, with Glassnode indicating a streak of 23 consecutive trading days of losses through October 30. This is the longest decline since the inception of these funds in July 2024. On Friday, BlackRock’s ETHA led the outflows with $76.6 million, followed by Grayscale’s Ethereum Mini Trust at $34.1 million, and $21.5 million from its ETHE product. The persistent withdrawals correlate with Ether’s pricing decline, plummeting from nearly $2,700 in late September to around $2,300. Bitcoin, on the other hand, closed October at $77,424, reflecting a 7.3 percent drop—its weakest performance for the month in a decade.
Understanding why the price remained stable
While Friday’s events could be interpreted as a setback for Bitcoin, the outflow data does not clarify the reasons behind these investor decisions. The selling occurred the day after a significant hack at Binance on October 29, where approximately $6.3 billion was stolen, causing heightened anxiety in the market. Consequently, some investors may have chosen to reduce their exposure after the incident, while others were likely rebalancing their portfolios at the month’s end. The data indicates substantial selling activity that failed to drive Bitcoin below the $77,000 mark by Sunday. Since the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, over $57 billion has flowed into these products. Despite facing a $233.7 million loss on Friday, IBIT alone ended October with $932.1 million in net inflows, while its smaller competitors suffered combined losses of about $1.45 billion for the month.
The coming Monday will serve as an important test when ETF trading resumes and the first November flow numbers emerge. Should outflows persist into a second week, this could signify a more significant shift in how institutional investors view crypto after a challenging October. Conversely, if funds flow back in, Friday may merely be seen as a knee-jerk response to a difficult week rather than the onset of a prolonged downturn. In either case, the weekend highlighted a crucial takeaway: the significant outflows from Bitcoin ETFs ($643.2 million) and Ether ETFs ($155.7 million) managed to negate a week’s worth of inflows within a single day, yet this did not break Bitcoin’s steadfast position above $78,000. Although this does not guarantee an end to selling pressure or indicate that a market bottom has been reached, it does suggest that the market absorbed a substantial institutional sell-off and continued trading, which stands out as a vital observation.
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Author: Cedric Holloway
New York Newsroom
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