Spot Bitcoin Etfs See $358m Outflow: Are Investors Abandoning Btc?
Bitcoin price held above $85,000, but weakening spot BTC ETF flows and a disappointing end-of-year performance cast doubt on a December rally to $100,000.
Bitcoin ETF outflows and a 31% drawdown from the peak have raised doubts, but metrics indicate that institutional investors are not abandoning Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s shifting correlation with gold and steady volatility suggest price behavior remains intact despite the short-term market pressure.
Bitcoin (BTC) gained 3% on Tuesday after selling off to the $85,000 level on Monday. An uptick in outflows from the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds appears to show institutional investor demand softening since the Oct. 10 crash. This reduces the likelihood of Bitcoin trading above $100,000 by year-end.
The spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $358 million in net outflows on Monday, marking the largest daily withdrawal in over three weeks. The move fueled speculation that institutional investors might be reducing their exposure after the psychological $90,000 support level was breached.
More importantly, Bitcoin is currently trading 31% below its all-time high of $126,219, a pullback that could signal the end of the bullish phase that extended into October.
According to X user ‘forcethehabit’, Bitcoin’s decline does not represent a trend change, as interest rate cuts have been delayed and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has reduced its balance sheet for longer than expected. The analysis also notes that institutional capital entered primarily through ETFs and corporate reserves, while rotation into riskier and more illiquid assets has yet to materialize.
Bitcoin’s correlation with gold prices can be used to assess whether the cryptocurrency is viewed as an alternative store of value or simply a proxy for higher-risk assets. The digital gold narrative has been an important driver of Bitcoin’s upside throughout 2025.
How Bitcoin tracks weekly moves in the gold price is more important than its 48% underperformance relative to gold since July. The 60-day correlation metric has oscillated between positive and negative since May, indicating little consistency between Bitcoin and gold price trends. Still, there is no doubt that Bitcoin traders are disappointed by the rejection that followed the loss of the $110,000 level.
While such data may appear bearish at first glance, the 31% Bitcoin price drop since October had no impact on the correlation metric. This weakens the argument that institutional investors have shifted their
Source: CoinTelegraph
