Why is the crypto market bleeding red? Search no further than the mammoth $1.01 billion that flooded out of spot Bitcoin ETFs on February 25, 2025. That’s right—over a billion dollars. Gone. Poof. It’s the largest single-day exodus since these ETFs got the green light in January 2024, with 10 out of 12 products watching their assets drain away.
The damage wasn’t isolated. This marks six straight days of outflows totaling more than $2 billion. Fidelity’s FBTC took the biggest hit with $344.65 million withdrawn. BlackRock’s IBIT wasn’t far behind, hemorrhaging $164.3 million. Even smaller players felt the pain—Valkyrie’s BRRR shed $100 million.
The bleeding isn’t stopping. Six days of $2B outflows with big players like Fidelity and BlackRock taking massive hits.
Bitcoin’s price predictably tanked. It dropped below $90,000 for the first time since November, bottoming out at $87,629. That’s a 6.2% nosedive in just six days. The entire crypto market went south, with liquidations hitting $1.3 billion in 24 hours. Brutal. The limited supply cap of Bitcoin at 21 million coins typically helps maintain value, but even this fundamental couldn’t prevent the drop.
What’s behind this financial bloodbath? Take your pick. US-China trade tensions have investors on edge. The massive $1.4 billion Bybit exchange hack on February 21 didn’t help matters. Plus, Bitcoin’s CME annualized basis fell below 5%, making those sweet basis trades less appealing for the suits on Wall Street. The previous record for single-day outflows stood at $671.9 million on December 19, 2024.
Standard Chartered is already sounding alarms about further price declines. Since the US election, ETF investors are sitting on an estimated $1.3 billion loss, with an average purchase price of $97,000. Ouch.
Not all is doom and gloom, though. CME bitcoin futures open interest barely budged, suggesting limited institutional unwinding. Major players like Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and Wisconsin’s Pension Fund are still holding strong.
Will the selling continue? Analysts are split. Some see this as a temporary blip; others view it as the canary in the coal mine. Long-term believers are calling this a buying opportunity—because of course they are. Meanwhile, regular investors are left wondering if they should panic or pounce. The crypto rollercoaster continues.
