Key Points
- U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds experienced over $300 million in outflows amid global macroeconomic events.
- Despite a brief recovery, the first week of October ended negatively for these funds.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. saw more than $300 million in outflows in a week due to global macroeconomic uncertainties.
This follows a historically bearish September that ended with over $1.1 billion in inflows.
Details on Outflows
Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 3, around $388.4 million exited from the 12-spot Bitcoin ETF funds. This coincided with the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, which drove Bitcoin’s price to a weekly low of $60,047.
On Oct. 4, the market experienced some relief as U.S. payroll data surpassed expectations, allowing Bitcoin to regain the $62,000 level and ETF products to see $25.59 million in inflows.
However, this recovery was insufficient to counteract the effects of the three-day outflow streak.
Week’s Performance
From Sept. 13, three consecutive weeks of inflows brought about $1.91 billion into spot Bitcoin ETFs. However, this week’s outflows resulted in these funds closing the first week of October in negative territory, with $301.54 million flowing out, as per SoSoValue data.
On the last trading day, Bitwise’s BITB saw the most inflows, while seven out of the twelve Bitcoin ETF products, including BlackRock’s IBIT, remained static.
Analysts’ Insights and Bitcoin Miners
Besides the ETF market, Bitcoin miners also contributed to selling pressure. According to crypto analyst Ali, they offloaded approximately $143 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) since Sept. 29.
Ali further noted that Bitcoin had been trading below the short-term holders’ realized price, which currently stands at $63,000. This price reflects the average cost at which short-term investors purchased their Bitcoin, and when the market dips below it, these holders are more likely to sell to mitigate losses—risking a “cascading sell-off” that could exert further selling pressure.
Ali advised investors to monitor the $63,000 mark as the next key level that BTC needs to overcome to prevent further losses.
Crypto analyst Immortal pointed to a slightly higher short-term target of $64,000, adding that if the flagship cryptocurrency manages to break above this key resistance level, it could indicate the start of a strong bullish move.
Despite short-term volatility, experts remain optimistic in the long term, referencing Bitcoin’s historical Q4 performance and expectations of U.S. rate cuts, which could drive prices toward the $72,000 range.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was hovering just above $62,200, marking a drop of over 5% in the past week.
Market sentiment seems to be improving, with the Fear and Greed Index moving back to a neutral 49, up from a more cautious 41 the previous day, as per data from Alternative.