Bitcoin ETFs Log Record 9-Day Outflow Streak as Investors Pull $2.8 Billion

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded nine consecutive trading days of net outflows as of May 29, 2026 — the longest withdrawal streak since the products launched in January 2024, according to SoSoValue data cited by CoinDesk at 10:38 a.m. ET that day.

Investors pulled roughly $2.8 billion over the nine-session run, surpassing any prior period of sustained selling in the 17 months since the funds listed. The pace held through the most recent week: approximately $1.3 billion exited in the last three trading days alone, extending three consecutive weekly net outflow prints. Monthly withdrawals now stand at roughly $2.3 billion.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) contributed the single largest individual catalyst: its biggest one-day redemption since launch, driven substantially by a roughly $1.29 billion dark pool transaction reported by CoinDesk on May 27. The precise motive behind the block trade is unknown, but the scale points to an institutional-size repositioning rather than retail selling.

The drawdown has tracked bitcoin's price. BTC fell from roughly $80,000 to $73,000 over the same nine-session window, underperforming equities by a wide margin as AI-related stocks and semiconductor names have continued to attract capital amid surging enthusiasm for AI infrastructure spending. The contrast has sharpened a capital-rotation narrative that has dominated crypto-market commentary: money that once chased bitcoin's headline volatility may be finding AI equities a more immediate growth vehicle.

There is a historical counterpoint worth noting. Glassnode data shows the 14-day moving average of ETF flows has twice before troughed close to local bitcoin bottoms — in early February, when BTC briefly touched near $60,000, and in November, when ETF outflows accelerated around a post-all-time-high pullback and a local low near $85,000. Whether the current streak marks another such inflection or the beginning of a structural shift in institutional positioning remains to be seen; nine days of outflow data does not resolve that question on its own.