Bitcoin ETF outflows are worse than many investors realise, and the selling pressure shows no sign of slowing down, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart.
The Outflow Picture Is Deteriorating
Speaking on the Milk Road Show, Seyffart said net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs have now fallen to just over $51 billion from a peak of $63 billion, meaning more than $11 billion has left these products from their high point. The selloff has pushed flows below February lows, making this the worst sustained outflow period since the ETFs launched.
The pace is accelerating rather than easing. On 25 June alone, $700 million exited in a single day, followed by $445 million the next day, then $232 million, and $223 million the day after. “It’s not slowing down,” Seyffart said. “If anything it’s kind of accelerating.”
Why the Selling Is Happening
Seyffart said there is no single explanation. The basis trade, which once supported institutional inflows, has largely unwound. Concerns about Strategy and whether Michael Saylor might be forced to unwind Bitcoin positions are weighing on sentiment. And perhaps most significantly, capital and attention are rotating toward other areas.
“There are way more interesting things happening in the market right now,” Seyffart said, pointing to AI and the space sector as competing draws on both capital and investor attention.
Covered Call ETFs and the Spaghetti Cannon
Despite the outflows, new Bitcoin ETP products keep launching. Goldman Sachs and BlackRock have both introduced covered call Bitcoin income ETFs, designed to give investors toned-down, yield-generating exposure to the asset. Seyffart said client demand for lower-volatility Bitcoin access is real, though he personally sees the trade-off of capping upside on a high-volatility asset as questionable.
He described the broader ETP product wave as a “spaghetti cannon,” with one new issuer launching 50 ETFs in a single week. The bright spots, he said, are newer and smaller products including Solana, XRP, and Hyperliquid ETFs, which launched during the bear market and have held up better than the established Bitcoin and Ethereum funds.
