Investors have been quietly walking away from US spot Bitcoin ETFs for nine consecutive trading sessions, pulling roughly $2.8 billion between May 15 and May 28. It’s the longest unbroken streak of redemptions since these products debuted in January 2024, when Wall Street couldn’t stop patting itself on the back for one of the most successful fund launches in history.
Here’s the thing: broader risk assets are rallying at the same time. The S&P 500 hit record highs above 7,200 during May. Bitcoin, meanwhile, slid roughly 5%, dropping from above $82,000 to below $77,000 over the same stretch. Investors aren’t running from risk. They’re running from this particular flavor of it.
Putting the bleeding in context
Nine days of outflows sounds dramatic, and it is. But zoom out a bit and the picture looks less like a crisis and more like a speed bump.
In their first year of trading, US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted over $36 billion in net inflows. The $2.8 billion that just walked out the door represents less than 8% of that total haul. Think of it like a restaurant that served 36,000 customers in year one and had 2,800 cancel reservations over two weeks. Not great, but the kitchen isn’t closing.
