US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Post $82.4 Million in Net Outflows Friday, $71.8 Million From BlackRock's IBIT

A widely shared post on X claimed BlackRock "sold $71.78 million in Bitcoin." The number is real. The framing needs work.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $82.41 million on Friday, Oct. 16, according to Trader T data. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) lost $71.8 million. Fidelity's FBTC lost $10.61 million. Grayscale's GBTC and mini fund, Bitwise's BITB and Ark's ARKB showed no net movement.

BlackRock's share of the day's outflow was about 87%.

What the outflow actually is

When shareholders redeem shares of a spot ETF, the fund sells some of the Bitcoin it holds to pay them. That is the mechanism behind the headline figure. BlackRock says its Bitcoin sales are reactive and driven by client demand, and no proprietary Bitcoin selling by the firm has been documented.

So the accurate version is that IBIT shareholders pulled out roughly $71.8 million, and the trust sold Bitcoin to cover it. It is not evidence that Larry Fink's firm made a call on Bitcoin.

One caveat on the data itself: flow figures track net creations and redemptions, not every share traded on an exchange. Zero net flow at a fund does not mean nobody sold its shares. The numbers also do not say why investors withdrew.

A rough October

Friday's drain follows a run of heavier days. On Oct. 7, US spot Bitcoin ETFs shed a combined $484.9 million, including $207.7 million from IBIT and $105.1 million from Fidelity's fund. The next day, another $244.1 million left, with Fidelity accounting for $197.1 million.

Oct. 9 brought a $21.1 million net inflow. Then on Monday, Oct. 12, the funds lost $65.4 million, all of it from IBIT, according to Farside Investors data. Every other tracked fund reported zero net flow that day.

Farside put Bitcoin ETF redemptions at $678.9 million for the week ending Oct. 9. IBIT finished that same week with a $1.1 million net inflow.

Month-to-date, net outflows total $614.9 million.

The bigger picture

The funds are still ahead over longer periods. Cumulative net inflows stand at about $315.5 million for the year, per the Trader T figures, and roughly $57.1 billion since the products launched, per Farside data through Oct. 12. IBIT launched in January 2024 and charges a 0.25% annual sponsor fee.

Bitcoin has traded in a range of roughly $80,000 to $83,000 during this stretch. Charles Schwab analyst Adam Lynch noted that Bitcoin is down 25% over the past year while still showing long-term momentum.

The outflows have coincided with price swings around that band. Nobody has established that the redemptions moved the price, or the other way around.

Ethereum funds are bleeding too

The pressure is not limited to Bitcoin. US spot Ethereum ETFs logged nine straight days of net withdrawals through Oct. 12. BlackRock's ETHA took $75.07 million of that day's $85.4 million.

Farside figures put category-wide Ethereum ETF redemptions at $542.2 million for the week ending Oct. 9, with ETHA responsible for $477.1 million, about 88%. That was the largest weekly Ethereum ETF outflow since January 2026. Ethereum was consolidating around $2,500 on Oct. 12, down from a $2,600 to $2,715 range earlier in the month.

ETHA's cumulative net inflows still sit above $12.7 billion since its July 2024 launch.

Big holders trim too

Large investors reducing positions is not new. Harvard Management cut its IBIT stake by about $72 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. In each case the selling originates with the shareholder, not the fund sponsor.

It remains unclear whether October's outflows are a short-term pullback or the start of a longer exit. Monday's flow data, covering the next trading session, will be the next read.

Friday's Farside figures are the latest, and they show the concentration clearly: when money leaves, it is leaving through the biggest door, and that door has BlackRock's name on it.