Bitcoin ETFs reverse three-day inflow streak with $635.6 million exit

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded an estimated $635.6 million net outflow on October 22, reversing three consecutive positive sessions just as bitcoin and technology shares weakened. The one-day withdrawal matters because it removes the divergence Coinburn reported a day earlier: fund subscriptions had been rising while bitcoin fell. The latest session put both measures in the same risk-off direction, although it still does not prove ETF redemptions caused the price move.

Farside Investors’ fund-level table shows withdrawals from five products. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $254.1 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $217.5 million, ARKB at $109.4 million, GBTC at $29.5 million and BITB at $27.4 million. Morgan Stanley’s MSBT recorded a $2.3 million inflow; the other listed funds showed zero.

Those are estimated net creations and redemptions for the October 22 U.S. trading session, expressed in millions of dollars. Farside says its table updates automatically and may contain errors or later revisions. The figures are not fund trading volume, assets under management or direct purchases and sales on cryptocurrency exchanges.

A sharp reversal, not a settled trend

The outflow followed estimated inflows of $526.7 million on October 19, $23.2 million on October 20 and $524.8 million on October 21. Coinburn calculates that the three-session inflow totaled $1.0747 billion. After Thursday’s withdrawal, the four-session balance remained positive by about $439.1 million.

That wider window changes the interpretation. October 22 was a substantial reversal, but it did not erase the preceding three trading days. Nor can a daily fund total identify whether investors were making directional bets, reallocating between products, closing arbitrage positions or responding to price changes already under way.

The change was broad rather than confined to one legacy product. IBIT and FBTC together accounted for $471.6 million, or about 74% of the day’s net withdrawal by Coinburn’s calculation. ARKB also posted a nine-figure exit. Concentration in a few large funds can make the aggregate swing sharply, while zeroes may reflect no net flow or incomplete reporting rather than an absence of secondary-market trading.

Bitcoin moved with the risk selloff

Seoul Economic Daily reported bitcoin at $81,258 at 8 a.m. Korea time on October 23, down 3.83% over the preceding 24 hours, citing CoinMarketCap. That is a cross-venue market quote at a stated observation time, not a universal execution price; cryptocurrency trades continuously and prices vary among venues.

The macro backdrop was also defensive. Reuters reported that the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% on October 22 as investors reassessed the financing demands of artificial-intelligence spending. During the following Asian session, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield held near 4.97% after dropping more than 19 basis points overnight, its largest daily decline since March 2023. Brent crude reached $114.10 a barrel, a five-month high, amid Middle East supply concerns.

Those moves show a rotation away from parts of the risk complex and into government bonds, but they do not isolate a single cause for bitcoin’s decline. Oil, equity valuations, interest-rate expectations, derivatives positioning and crypto-specific flows were changing together.

What the next session can establish

One day of simultaneous ETF withdrawals and lower bitcoin prices is stronger evidence of aligned selling pressure than Wednesday’s price-flow divergence. It is still only a snapshot. Fund-flow tables can be revised, the bitcoin quote covers a rolling 24-hour window rather than the exact U.S. fund session, and neither dataset reveals the motives of the underlying investors.

The next useful test is whether October 23 fund data confirm a sustained withdrawal cycle or show another reversal. Until then, the verified conclusion is narrow: U.S. spot bitcoin funds gave back part of a three-day inflow streak while bitcoin traded lower during a broader technology-led risk retreat.