Last week, there was a dramatic increase in outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States as investor confidence was shaken by escalating trade tensions stemming from President Trump’s bold tariff proposals.
Data from SoSoValue indicates that the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $713.3 million in withdrawals, representing a staggering over 300% rise compared to the previous week’s outflows of $172.7 million.
From April 7 to 11, funds consistently exited these ETFs, maintaining a downward trend that began on April 3. The most significant outflow occurred on Tuesday, with $326.27 million leaving, while Friday saw just over $1 million withdrawn.
BlackRock’s IBIT suffered the most, with $342.6 million in outflows, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC at $160.9 million and Fidelity’s FBTC, which saw $74.6 million exit, according to Faside data. Other ETFs such as BITB, BTCO, ARKB, EZBC, BTCW, and HODL recorded outflows ranging from approximately $11 million to $38 million.
In contrast, Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin Trust was the only ETF to defy the downward trend, managing $2.4 million in net inflows, while Valkyrie’s BRRR reported no transactions throughout the week.
Ethereum ETFs didn’t perform much better than their Bitcoin counterparts, witnessing a 65% increase in outflows to $82.47 million last week. This marks the seventh consecutive week of withdrawals, totaling over $877 million to date.
The key issue driving these trends appears to be the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s new tariff initiatives. Initially, he announced a 10% blanket tariff on all imports set to take effect in April, with heightened rates for certain major trade partners.
On April 9, markets experienced some relief when he delayed the tariff increases for 75 allied nations. However, this respite was short-lived as the U.S. subsequently raised tariffs on Chinese goods to as high as 145%, accusing China of engaging in unfair trading practices.
In retaliation, China introduced tariffs of up to 125% on U.S. products and halted exports of rare-earth minerals. This escalation heightened concerns regarding a potential trade war, leading investors to become wary of riskier assets like Bitcoin.
At the time of this report, the broader cryptocurrency market had seen a decline of about 2.1% over the past day. However, Bitcoin rebounded from last week’s low of $74,773, nearing $84,500 by Monday, April 14.
Some analysts suggest that Bitcoin (BTC) may be poised to emerge from its prolonged downtrend, noting that it is just hours away from a crucial movement that could signal the start of a new upward trajectory.