Bitcoin ETFs shed $1.2 billion amid drop in BTC price

United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered more than $1.2 billion in outflows to end this week. According to reports, the eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States saw a total outflow of $366 million on Friday to cap off what can be described as a red week for the asset and related investment products.

This development comes amid a drop in the price of the leading digital asset, Bitcoin. Despite this, Charles Schwab has claimed that there is still interest in the digital asset and Bitcoin-associated institutional investment products. While the ETFs registered a total outflow for the whole week, the report claims that it saw only a day of minor inflows this week, registering the feat on Tuesday.

Bitcoin ETFs register weekly outflows of $1.2 billion

According to data from SoSoValue, the largest outflow was registered by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, with the product losing $268.6 million. Fidelity’s fund ranked second, shedding $67.2 million, while Grayscale’s GBTC lost $25 million. Valkyrie registered a minor outflow during the same period, while the rest registered zero flows to end the week. The ETF exodus comes as Bitcoin dumped more than $10,000 in a crash on Friday.

Bitcoin saw a big dent in its price after the asset went from trading over $115,000 on Monday to bottoming out at a four-month low of just below $104,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Rick Wurster, CEO of Charles Schwab, mentioned that he remains bullish on crypto exchange-traded products. He noted that the asset manager’s clients own at least 20% of all crypto ETPs in the United States. “Crypto ETPs have been very active” he told CNBC on Friday.

Wurster also mentioned that visits to the company’s crypto site have gone up about 90% in the past year. “It’s a topic that’s of high engagement,” he added. According to crypto ETF expert Nate Geraci, Charles Schwab operates as one of the largest brokerages in the United States. The company currently offers crypto ETFs and Bitcoin futures. In a recent update, it says there are plans to launch its spot crypto trading services to clients in 2026.

Analysts back BTC to return to winning ways

Speaking about launching spot crypto services, Wurster said, “We anticipate launching Bitcoin and Ethereum sometime soon so that our clients have access to that.” The CEO claimed that many clients currently keep about 98% of their wealth in the company, but hold about 2% of their crypto assets with crypto-native platforms. “They really want to bring it back to Schwab because they trust us. They want us to sit alongside their other assets,” he added.

Bitcoin has registered gains in ten out of the last twelve Octobers, but the asset has broken character this year, losing 6% so far, according to data from CoinMarketCap. However, analysts are confident that Uptober will resume as historical gains have usually come in the second half of the month. “After the largest liquidation in crypto history, I expected October to be deep in the red,” crypto podcaster Scott Melker said.

However, Melker noted that the markets are still holding on, which feels like a miracle. He added that he does not think we are entering a bear market just yet. Melker said that this wasn’t like the case of past years, where there were external influences on the market, noting the ICO mania and China’s ban on mining. “What happened last week was purely structural. The kind of event that forces everyone to stop, reprice risk, and rethink what’s actually possible (and broken) in this market,” he added.