Digital-asset exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw a sharp reversal in sentiment last week, with investors pulling roughly US$2 billion from funds, the largest weekly outflow since February, according to CoinShares’ latest weekly flows report. The sell-off extends a three-week run of withdrawals that now totals about US$3.2 billion and has pushed total assets under management in digital-asset ETPs down from an early-October peak of US$264 billion to roughly US$191 billion, a 27% slide in little more than a month.
The exodus was overwhelmingly concentrated in the United States, which accounted for 97% of the outflows (about US$1.97 billion), while Switzerland and Hong Kong recorded smaller drains of US$39.9 million and US$12.3 million, respectively. German investors bucked the trend, adding US$13.2 million to ETPs as some saw the weakness as a buying opportunity. CoinShares singled out monetary-policy uncertainty and heavy selling by crypto-native whales as the twin engines behind the recent outflows.
At the asset level, Bitcoin and Ethereum bore the brunt. Bitcoin ETPs recorded roughly US$1.38 billion in outflows last week, a third consecutive week of net redemptions that now represent about 2% of Bitcoin ETP AuM, while Ethereum products saw about US$689 million leave, equal to roughly 4% of its AuM. Other tokens were not immune: Solana and XRP experienced smaller outflows of about US$8.3 million and US$15.5 million, respectively. Meanwhile, some investors rotated toward diversification and downside protection, pumping around US$69 million into multi-asset ETPs over the past three weeks and adding roughly US$18.1 million into short-bitcoin products.
Macro Uncertainty
The timing of the outflows coincides with renewed macro uncertainty. Market discussion has been dominated by a more hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve and worries that data disruptions and fiscal noise could delay policy moves, a backdrop that typically penalizes higher-risk assets. Equity- and macro-focused outlets noted the same dynamic, pointing to a pullback in risk appetite that has pressured big-cap tokens in recent sessions.
Price action reflected the fund flows. Bitcoin traded around US$95,000 on Monday, a level not seen since earlier in the year after a stretched rally that took BTC to six-figure territory earlier this autumn. Several technical analysts flagged the move below recent support bands and a decline in futures open interest as signs that institutional demand has retreated in recent weeks. Ethereum likewise eased, trading around US$3,100–3,200, after a volatile stretch that saw intraday swings of several hundred dollars.
Analysts say two forces are converging to sap confidence: policy uncertainty that is raising the cost of capital and episodic selling from on-chain whales and other large holders. The CoinShares note specifically calls out crypto-native whale selling as a material contributor to the outflows. This charge aligns with on-chain trackers’ reports of large transfers to exchanges in recent weeks. That combination has trimmed ETP investors’ risk tolerance and nudged some into multi-asset or inverse products as a defensive measure.
What happens next will likely depend on two variables: whether the Fed’s path becomes clearer in the coming weeks and whether large holders pause their selling. If policy signals become less hawkish, analysts expect a portion of the institutional flows to reverse; if not, the current risk-off environment could persist, sustaining pressure on AuM and prices. For now, the ETP numbers are a timely reminder that, despite the industry’s rapid growth this year, flows remain sensitive to macro turns and concentrated selling.
