U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds returned to net outflows on Wednesday as investors took profits and repositioned themselves ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech.
According to data from SoSovalue, the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $470.71 million in net outflows on Oct. 29, ending a streak of consecutive inflows seen over the prior four days that drew in around $462.7 million into the funds.
Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK 21Share’s ARKB led the outflows with $164.36 million and $143.8 million, leaving the funds. BlackRock’s IBIT and Grayscale’s GBTC funds shed $88 million and $65 million, respectively. None of the BTC funds saw any inflows on the day.
Trading volume for these investment vehicles stood at $7.07 billion, significantly higher than $4.18 billion recorded the previous day.
Meanwhile, their Ethereum counterparts also resumed outflows with $81.44 million flowing out of the funds following two straight days of net inflows.
Outflows from both Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs likely came as investors opted to book profits and adopt a more cautious stance ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s press statement following the conclusion of the FOMC meeting yesterday.
Although the Fed’s 25bps rate cut came in line with most analysts’ expectations, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) slipped as traders sold the news, a classic case of “buy the rumor, sell the news.”
Powell also threw cold water on hopes for another rate cut this year, dashing the optimism bulls had built up in recent weeks.
“A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it, policy is not on a preset course,” Powell told reporters, adding that the decision would be heavily dependent on incoming economic data.
At the time of writing, both BTC and ETH were down nearly 3% over the past 24 hours, trading around $110,000 and $3,910, respectively.
Another key reason why these assets saw losses was a significant jump in liquidations from the broader crypto market. Data from CoinGlass showed that crypto liquidations surged 75% to $594 million yesterday, with over 146,000 traders liquidated. Bitcoin and Ethereum accounted for the largest portions of those losses.
Commenting on the broader macro setup, Andrew Forson, president of DeFi Technologies, told crypto.news that as earnings season unfolds, market sentiment will likely remain reactive to corporate results and forward guidance. He added that while strong earnings could reinforce the market’s confidence in a recovery narrative, disappointing numbers might reveal the uneven toll of current economic conditions.
“Overall, a lower-rate environment tends to be constructive for both equities and digital assets, and we view this backdrop as broadly positive for crypto as investors look toward alternative and growth-oriented assets,” Forson said.
Nevertheless, some analysts remain bullish on the longer-term outlook. Among them was Matt Mena, a Crypto Research Strategist at 21Shares, who believes Bitcoin could hit fresh all-time highs by the end of the year, supported by “policy tailwinds, liquidity rotation, and positive sentiment converge.”
“The stage is set for Bitcoin to decisively surpass its $124k peak and potentially end the year in the $130K-$150K range, with Ethereum trading in the $5k-6k range,” Mena wrote in comments to crypto.news.
