Crypto Markets Slide Amid Heavy Bitcoin ETF Outflows

Crypto markets continued to slide on Friday, extending the downward trend that began on Thursday, as investors pulled over $200 million from spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped by more than 1%, while Solana slid by 4%, according to CoinGecko data.

Data from Farside shows that Bitcoin spot ETFs had over $226 million in net outflows on Thursday. Fidelity’s FBTC was hit the hardest, with $106 million outflows, while Grayscale’s GBTC saw $61 million in outflows, Ark Invest’s ARKB experienced $52.7 million in withdrawals, and VanEck’s ETF saw $11 million in outflows.

Withdrawals come after Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows worth $100 million on June 12.

ETH ETFs Optimism

Meanwhile, in testimony to a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler said that Ethereum ETFs will likely be approved by the end of the summer.

Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of MN Trading, remains optimistic.

“Ethereum has corrected in the past three weeks, but slowly but surely, the momentum toward listing the Ethereum ETF will start to emerge,” he said. “The expectation is that the ETF will go live in July.”

According to Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, Ethereum on Friday experienced one of its most significant days in terms of accumulation by long-term holders.

CryptoQuant data revealed that on June 12, accumulation addresses acquired 298,000 Ether tokens, worth $1.03 billion. The record for daily buying occurred on Sept. 11, when 317,000 ETH were purchased.

“The demand for Ethereum has surged,” he said. “Buying by permanent holders was the second highest on record yesterday.”

Data from CoinGlass shows that 52,082 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, amounting to total liquidations of $112.76 million. ETH and BTC longs faced the highest liquidation, totaling $18 million. Longs are trading positions where investors buy assets expecting their price to rise.

In the broader financial markets, U.S. stocks traded lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 shed 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3%.