US spot Bitcoin ETFs hemorrhaged $226.8 million in net outflows during the week ending June 18, according to data from SoSoValue. That makes six straight weeks of investors pulling money out, the longest such streak on record for these funds.
The cumulative damage over that six-week stretch: $5.94 billion in total outflows. Not exactly a vote of confidence.
The bleeding is slowing
Here’s the thing. While the headline number looks ugly, the trend underneath it tells a different story. Outflows dropped from $1.72 billion in the first week of June to just over $226 million last week. That’s a roughly 87% decline in selling pressure over the span of six weeks.
“To me, that suggests the selling wave is largely exhausting itself rather than accelerating,” said Jeff Ko, Chief Analyst at CoinEx.
Ko also pointed out that not all outflows represent genuine spot demand leaving Bitcoin. A “meaningful portion” reflects rates, basis, and arbitrage unwinds, essentially institutional traders closing out hedged positions rather than dumping their Bitcoin exposure entirely.
Long-term allocators like pension funds and endowments have “proven considerably more resilient” during this rough patch, Ko added.
Where the money is going
Jeff Mei, COO of BTSE, offered a blunter explanation for the outflows: AI is eating Bitcoin’s lunch.
“We believe that investors are simply allocating capital toward AI equities, given the SpaceX IPO and the amount of attention the AI sector is attracting at this point,” Mei said.
He noted that major AI players like OpenAI and Anthropic have yet to go public, suggesting the capital rotation toward that sector could have legs. In English: Bitcoin ETFs aren’t just competing with other crypto products anymore. They’re competing with the hottest trade on the planet.
What this means for investors
Bitcoin has stabilized around $64,000, holding its ground despite six weeks of persistent ETF selling. That resilience matters. If prices can hold while institutional flows turn negative, it suggests underlying demand from other channels, whether direct purchases, international markets, or long-term holders, is absorbing the pressure.
The key number to watch is the weekly outflow trajectory. If the trend from $1.72 billion down to $226 million continues, the streak could break soon. A single week of net inflows would reset the narrative entirely and likely act as a catalyst for momentum traders to re-enter.
The risk is that AI mania intensifies and keeps sucking oxygen from crypto allocations. Bitcoin has weathered rotation trades before, but competing against a sector with multiple billion-dollar IPOs in the pipeline is a different kind of headwind.