U.S. crypto exchange-traded funds faced sustained redemptions in the week through October 16, with institutional investors withdrawing approximately $593 million across five major crypto ETF categories. The pace of withdrawals declined 52% compared to the previous week's $1.2 billion, yet all fund categories finished with negative flows.
Bitcoin ETFs lost about $228.6 million during the week. Bitcoin fund assets ended at $104.29 billion, meaning weekly outflows represented approximately 0.22% of that asset base. Blackrock's IBIT accounted for $165.4 million of weekly redemptions, while Fidelity's FBTC lost $60.2 million. Morgan Stanley's MSBT attracted $6.7 million.
Ether ETFs experienced significantly heavier redemption pressure relative to their size. Ether funds lost roughly $320 million, equivalent to about 2.14% of their $14.95 billion in assets—approximately 10 times the redemption pressure experienced by bitcoin relative to fund size. Ether ETFs recorded their third consecutive negative week, with losses of $129.51 million on Wednesday, $60.22 million on Thursday, and $69.68 million on Friday.
Bitcoin ETF trading volume declined to about $10.11 billion from $11.44 billion, while ether volume fell roughly 34% to $3.44 billion. The combination of lower turnover and persistent redemptions suggests institutional enthusiasm for crypto remains restrained.
Solana ETFs delivered another warning signal, losing $25.52 million and recording 10 consecutive trading days of net outflows. Solana ETF assets fell to $1.62 billion, representing 1.58% of assets. XRP ETFs lost $1.84 million, HYPE products recorded $17.57 million in weekly redemptions, and Zcash funds shed $19.15 million.
NEAR stood apart from broader trends, with Bitwise's NRR product attracting $11.65 million during the week, including inflows on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. September consumer price index accelerated to 3.7% annually, while producer prices rose 6.3%, contributing to the defensive positioning in institutional crypto holdings.
