Two sessions undid most of a good week for US spot Bitcoin ETFs. On Thursday, 22 October, investors pulled a net $635.6 million, the biggest one-day outflow since 25 June, according to The Block. On Friday another $137.9 million left, per the fund-by-fund table at Kodexius.
The headline number is the outflow. The more useful detail is who did not sell: Morgan Stanley’s young MSBT fund took in money on both days while every large rival lost it.
The week, day by day
Here are the net flows for the full week, using The Block’s figures for Monday to Thursday and Kodexius for Friday.
| Day (Oct 2026) | Net flow | IBIT | FBTC | MSBT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 19 | +$526.7M | +$665.2M | -$83.6M | 0 |
| Tue 20 | +$23.2M | +$29.9M | +$3.6M | 0 |
| Wed 21 | +$528.4M | +$235.0M | +$212.7M | 0 |
| Thu 22 | -$635.6M | -$254.1M | -$217.5M | +$2.3M |
| Fri 23 | -$137.9M | -$110.3M | -$31.8M | +$4.2M |
| Week | +$304.8M | +$565.7M | -$116.6M | +$6.5M |
BtcMedia calculation from the daily figures above.
Three points stand out. The week still closed positive, by about $305 million. But IBIT’s whole week rests on Monday’s $665 million; strip that day out and it lost about $100 million. And Fidelity’s FBTC ended the week in the red despite Wednesday’s $212.7 million.
Our math: what $774 million means in coins
Thursday and Friday together come to $773.5 million. At Saturday’s CoinGecko price of about $80,750, that is roughly 9,580 BTC.
Since the April 2024 halving, miners create 3.125 BTC per block, or about 450 BTC a day at 144 blocks. So two days of ETF redemptions equal about 21 days of new Bitcoin supply. That is why flow swings of this size move the price more than mining does.
Scale matters too. Total ETF net assets stood at $104.71 billion after Thursday, about 6.41% of Bitcoin’s market value, according to TokenPost, citing SoSoValue. The two-day outflow is about 0.74% of those assets. It is a real move, not a rush for the exits.
Why MSBT is the detail to watch
MSBT launched in April and has had only one day of net outflows so far, The Block reports. Its inflows are small, $6.5 million across the two days, but they came while IBIT and FBTC were bleeding.
The likely reason is how it is sold. Funds tied to a large wealth-management network tend to get steady allocations from advisers, while IBIT and FBTC carry more trading money that comes and goes quickly. IBIT and FBTC took in a combined $447.7 million on Wednesday and gave back $471.5 million on Thursday, a near-perfect reversal noted by Bitcoin.com News. That pattern looks like short-term positioning, not long-term holders changing their minds.
One caution: a redemption is not always a sale with a view. Market makers unwind arbitrage trades through the same mechanism, so a single red day says less than a run of them.
What it means for Indian investors
At USD/INR 95.04 (24 October, ExchangeRate-API), the two-day outflow equals about ₹7,350 crore. Bitcoin itself was about ₹76.7 lakh on CoinGecko, close to the US ETFs’ estimated average cost that we mapped in rupees in our cost-basis piece. If ETF holders keep selling near their break-even, that line can turn from support into pressure.
Indian readers who hold Bitcoin on exchanges pay 30% tax plus cess on gains and 1% TDS on sales. Indians who buy US-listed ETF units through overseas brokers are holding foreign securities, not VDAs, so different capital-gains rules and foreign-asset reporting apply; check with a chartered accountant. You can track the rupee price on our Bitcoin INR page and model the tax with the crypto tax calculator.
BtcMedia verdict
A positive week with a negative ending. The outflow was large by recent standards but under 1% of ETF assets, and it came mostly from the two funds where fast money sits. The signal to watch next week is whether outflows continue for several days while Bitcoin trades near $80,000-81,000. One red Thursday is noise; five would not be.
FAQ
What was the largest Bitcoin ETF outflow this week? Thursday, 22 October, at $635.6 million net, the biggest single day since 25 June.
Did any Bitcoin ETF take in money on 22-23 October? Yes. Morgan Stanley’s MSBT added $2.3 million on Thursday and $4.2 million on Friday, the only inflows on those days.
Do ETF outflows mean investors are selling Bitcoin? Usually, but not always. Some redemptions are arbitrage unwinds by market makers, so a run of outflow days matters more than one.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto assets are volatile; do your own research.