Institutional Investors Slashed Bitcoin ETF Holdings by 52,000 BTC in Q1

Since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, products from BlackRock, Fidelity and others have become key channels for institutional flows into and out of Bitcoin. With the price returning to $60,000, ETF flows are an important gauge of whether the market can absorb selling pressure and hold that level.

Bitcoin briefly returned to around $60,000 on June 7. According to SoSoValue, the 11 U.S. spot ETFs recorded net outflows of $1.72 billion from June 1 to June 5, their largest weekly redemption in more than a year and far above the $318 million withdrawn in the first week of February. By June 30, the ETFs had reduced their holdings by about 71,600 BTC during the month, while corporate treasuries bought just 7,500 BTC, creating a supply overhang of about $4.4 billion.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were initially seen as an important gateway for institutional capital into the crypto market, and changes in their holdings are often used to track large investors' risk appetite. Institutions reduced their positions in the fourth quarter of 2025, showing that professional investors were cutting Bitcoin exposure as market sentiment fell to “extreme fear.”

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said institutional investors sold a combined total of more than 25,000 bitcoins through spot Bitcoin ETFs in the fourth quarter of 2025, with Brevan Howard cutting its holdings by more than 17,000. The ETFs have recorded net outflows for five consecutive weeks, according to the latest data, with no clear sign that selling pressure has eased.