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Bitcoin’s aggressive uptrend at the start of 2026 has slowed, triggering a liquidation spree and net outflows of $243 million from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Tuesday.
The flows were mixed, with BlackRock’s IBIT seeing $228 million in inflows, offset by outflows from several major issuers, according to SoSoValue. Fidelity's FBTC led redemptions at -$312 million, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC (-$83 million), and smaller outflows from VanEck and Ark Invest/21Shares.
The figures come as Bitcoin has pulled back from a weekly high over $94,000, dropping 1.7% on the day to just over $92,000, per CoinGecko data. Users of prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, remain optimistic on its prospects, placing a 76% chance on the cryptocurrency’s next move taking it to $100,000 rather than $69,000.
Analysts view the shift as a tactical pause rather than a loss of conviction.
“The recent ETF outflows look temporary rather than structural,” Sergey Kravtsov, Co-founder & CEO at Papaya Finance, told Decrypt. “What we’re seeing is tactical repositioning driven by short-term price action.”
This perspective is echoed by other market observers. “The recent outflows look more like a normalization after stronger inflows at the start of the year,” Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, told Decrypt.
He noted that late 2025 selling pressure from tax-loss harvesting has eased, but as Bitcoin consolidates, “ETF flows could look more chaotic in the short term rather than follow a clear trend.”
Other corners of the market showed relative strength, underscoring the selective nature of the pullback. Spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs noted inflows of $114.74 million and $19.12 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, Digital Asset Trust inflows, which hit $2.159 billion by December’s end, have moderated to $296 million and $559 million over the past two weeks, according to DeFiLlama data.
This moderation reflects “caution and not disengagement,” Kravtsov told Decrypt. Otychenko added that with many DATs trading near or below their net asset value, “investor conviction remains fragile,” leading them to prefer holding cash as a buffer.
With major overhangs like the MSCI decision now resolved, the macro backdrop of prospective rate cuts remains stable. Analysts see the current phase as consolidation within a range.
“In the near term, crypto remains fundamentally strong,” Kravtsov said, pointing to “materially more mature” infrastructure versus previous cycles. “This phase looks like consolidation before the next leg of growth, not a downturn,” he added.
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Otychenko provided a technical framework for this view, noting that Bitcoin is still trading between key on-chain metrics—the true mean price and the short-term holder cost basis.
“A more decisive move will likely require a return of liquidity and stronger participation from investors,” he concluded.
