Bitcoin ETFs Bleed $1.34B as Flows Shift to Solana Funds

The recent volatility in spot Bitcoin ETF flows began on October 29, with a substantial single-day outflow of $470.7 million, followed by $488.4 million on October 30, and $191.6 million on October 31. The streak extended into the new week with a further $186.5 million redemption on Monday, November 3, bringing the four-session total to roughly -$1.34 billion. This sequence demonstrates how quickly aggregate flow figures can swing when a major player like IBIT turns into a net seller. Data from Farside clarifies that Monday’s outflows were almost entirely attributable to IBIT, with its peer issuers showing essentially no net movement.

This concentration challenges a simplistic bearish interpretation. The dispersion beneath the headline number was highlighted on Friday, when the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) actually posted a modest inflow of +$6.9 million, even as the broader group experienced net redemptions. The primary takeaway from this distribution is not merely the size of the outflows, but their composition and pace. The data suggests that daily totals can appear volatile without necessarily signaling a broad-based investor retreat from Bitcoin exposure, pointing instead to issuer-specific activities.

While Bitcoin ETFs bled, capital was actively seeking other crypto opportunities. Weekly data from CoinShares reveals that digital asset ETPs saw net outflows of approximately $360 million in the most recent reporting period. However, this aggregate masks a stark divergence: Bitcoin products bore the brunt with outflows of $946 million, while Solana (SOL) funds attracted a massive $421 million of inflows. This figure represents the second-largest weekly inflow for Solana ETPs on record, significantly aided by the launch of new US-based SOL ETFs.

This cross-asset split indicates a clear rotation of investor appetite. The same CoinShares report links the week’s risk-off bias to the market’s interpretation of Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s recent comments following a rate cut. The market’s hawkish read of these remarks kept risk assets cautious and left flows skittish at the margin. Taken together, the movement from Bitcoin to Solana ETPs, coupled with the prevailing policy narrative, suggests a tactical repositioning within the crypto asset class rather than a capitulation from it.

Analyzing ETF flows requires understanding what the data represents—and what it does not. Spot Bitcoin ETF flows are comprised of net creations and redemptions reported by issuers and compiled by independent trackers like Farside. They are among the cleanest real-time signals of US institutional and retail demand for wrapped Bitcoin exposure. However, they can be distorted by issuer-specific activities such as Authorized Participant (AP) inventory management, the timing of creation basket settlements, or a single fund’s model-driven rebalancing. This is precisely why concentrated outflows from a fund like IBIT can dominate the daily total even when other major issuers are flat.

Furthermore, the reporting cadence itself can create the illusion of trends. Because flow updates are typically released in the evening US time, the data can lag or bunch, creating multi-day streaks that may be as much a function of reporting schedules as a genuine shift in sentiment. This is why analysts emphasize that daily prints do not always reflect underlying trends and that looking at multi-day sums and, crucially, issuer dispersion provides a more reliable picture of the market’s direction.

The $1.34 billion outflow over four days is undoubtedly a substantial figure. However, it occurs in a market accustomed to historically large two-way flows and sits alongside equally significant inflows into non-Bitcoin segments like Solana. Through a macro lens, this pattern resembles tactical de-risking in response to policy uncertainty and price volatility rather than large, structural outflows from crypto.

Market participants will be closely watching two key developments in the coming days. First, whether the selling pressure on IBIT persists or rotates to other issuers. Second, whether the remarkable inflow streak into Solana ETFs continues as the initial excitement around new product launches settles. A break in the daily Bitcoin ETF outflow streak would signal stabilization. If flows stabilize or turn positive while Bitcoin maintains key technical support levels, it would affirm that the recent outflow streak was likely positioning noise rather than a fundamental turn in demand. Conversely, another week of billion-dollar outflows, especially if concentrated in one or two issuers, would indicate that large allocators are actively and persistently reducing risk in their flagship crypto funds. For now, the dominant narrative is one of dispersion and rotation, with no clear signal of capitulation.