Bitcoin prices fell notably on Friday, driven by substantial outflows from BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the week and decreased enthusiasm for crypto assets amid the ongoing higher-for-longer interest rate narrative that continues to bolster the US dollar.
Bitcoin was trading down 3.5% at $63,665.8 by 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT), the lowest level in more than a month. Despite the drop, the premier cryptocurrency remained squarely within a $60,000 to $70,000 range seen over the past few months.
Bitcoin ETFs see $900 million in weekly outflows
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their fifth consecutive day of outflows on Thursday, with over $900 million withdrawn so far this week.
According to data from SoSoValue, the 11 listed ETFs lost $140 million on Thursday, with trading volumes reaching $1.1 billion. Grayscale’s GBTC, which has experienced frequent outflows since its conversion to an ETF in January, led the outflows with $53 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $51 million.
BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest ETF by assets, was the only product to see net inflows, gaining $1 million. Other ETFs saw no significant net inflow or outflow activity.
This recent outflow activity is the worst since late April, when total net outflows reached $1.2 billion during trading sessions from April 24 to May 2. Inflows picked up thereafter, adding more than $4 billion over the following 19 trading days, before the current wave of outflows began on June 10.
Bitcoin prices have struggled in recent weeks due to $1 billion in sales from large holders, a strong U.S. dollar, and a robust U.S. technology index market.
Crypto prices: A sea of red
Altcoins followed Bitcoin prices into the red, with the no.2 cryptocurrency ETH/USD sliding 3% to $3,482.90 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, other major altcoins such as XRP, ADA/USD, and Solana lost between 2% and 5%.
Among meme coins, DOGE/USD fell 1.8% and SHIB/USD dipped 4.3%.