Author：Dandan Adane
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. moved back to negative flows on Tuesday after drawing in over $1.16 billion in the first two trading days of 2026.
According to data from SoSoValue, bitcoin ETFs reported $243 million in net outflows yesterday, marking the first day of negative total flows this year.
The outflows were led by Fidelity's FBTC, which saw $312.24 million move out from the fund on Tuesday. Grayscale's GBTC recorded $83.07 million in net outflows, while its Bitcoin Mini Trust saw $32.73 million exit the product. Funds from Ark & 21Shares and VanEck also reported net outflows on the day.
Tuesday's outflows were partially offset by $228.66 million in inflows into BlackRock's IBIT, which was the only fund to record net inflows yesterday. Across the first three trading days of 2026, IBIT has amassed a total of $888 million in net inflows.
"BTC ETF outflows look more like post-inflow normalization than risk-off," said Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research. "Institutions are rebalancing exposure, not exiting conviction. One day of ETF outflows doesn't outweigh the broader trend of sustained institutional allocation, especially after strong early-year 2025 inflows."
Liu also pointed out that bitcoin's price held steady despite the sizable outflows, suggesting that it is undergoing consolidation, not capitulation. According to The Block's crypto price page, bitcoin was trading at $92,521 at the time of writing, down 1.18% in the past 24 hours.
Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, shared similar views, saying that the outflows represent a modest pullback that reflects normal profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing.
Altcoin inflows
Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs reported net inflows of $114.7 million on Tuesday, despite outflows from Grayscale's and Fidelity's products. XRP and Solana ETFs also reported net inflows of $19 million and $9 million, respectively.
"It makes sense that traders are rotating toward SOL and XRP, both of which could have more upside than BTC given their previous all-time high prices," Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE told The Block.
Liu of Kronos said relatively small flow sizes into SOL and XRP ETFs suggest that this is part of early positioning adjustments rather than a structural capital rotation.
