The outflow of funds from US Bitcoin spot ETFs continues. According to SoSoValue data, these products have seen net outflows for nine consecutive trading days since May 15, with a cumulative outflow of $2.8 billion as of May 28, indicating a significant cooling of institutional investors' willingness to allocate funds to Bitcoin.
Single-day outflow hits year-to-date high
On May 28, net outflows totaled approximately $733 million, marking the worst day of the year and the fifth-largest single-day outflow in history. BlackRock's IBIT saw approximately $528 million in outflows, making it the primary source of capital withdrawals that day.
On a weekly basis, the first week of mid-May saw net outflows of approximately $1 billion, which widened to $1.26 billion the following week, and has now reached $1.3 billion so far this week. Galaxy Research states that this round of outflows has turned the year-to-date cumulative inflows of Bitcoin ETFs into negative territory.
Risk appetite shifts to US stocks
The report noted a recent shift in investor preference towards the US stock market, particularly AI-related sectors. With the S&P 500 reaching a record high, market attention is increasingly focused on large-cap tech stocks and AI-related stocks, thus diminishing the appeal of crypto assets.
Meanwhile, escalating tensions in the Middle East are also seen as a risk factor by some institutions. CoinShares previously mentioned in a report that investors have reduced their exposure to crypto assets following the intensification of geopolitical conflicts.
On-chain data indicates insufficient buying pressure.
In its latest report, on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant stated that the balances of whale addresses holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC are contracting at the fastest rate year-over-year since 2026, approaching the pace of the 2022 bear market. The growth rate of addresses holding 100 to 1,000 BTC has also fallen below the 365-day moving average; this range has historically coincided with periods of sustained market correction.
The report also points out that the supply of long-term holders has risen to a record 15.8 million BTC, but this does not necessarily represent active accumulation in the market. It is more likely that there is a lack of new buyers, causing existing tokens to continue to accumulate. The supply of short-term holders has decreased from 6.4 million in December last year to about 4.2 million currently.
The decrease of approximately 900,000 BTC was attributed to the longer holding period of Bitcoin in Coinbase reserves, which then shifted to the perspective of long-term holders.
CoinGecko data shows that Bitcoin has fallen by approximately 5.4% over the past week and month, currently trading below $74,000, returning to a six-week low. The simultaneous weakening of fund flows, price, and on-chain holdings reflects a still cautious short-term market sentiment.
