US Ether ETFs face record 13-day outflow streak amid weak investor demand

US Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have experienced their longest streak of daily withdrawals, with nine ETFs shedding about $415 million across 13 straight days of net outflows.

Ethereum price is more than 52% down from its December 2024 high at $4,107, and data from TradingView shows ETH down 42% since the start of 2025.

Ethereum ETFs see $102.9M outflow as Bitcoin funds surge with $744M inflows

Ethereum funds saw a net outflow of $102.9 million during the week ending March 21, with BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) accounting for $74 million of that. The outflows have coincided with Ethereum’s tumble to its current level of around $2,075 from $2,200 on March 5, according to the crypto data provider CoinGecko

Sui and Polkadot also recorded the highest outflows among altcoins at $1.3 million each, followed by Tron with $950,000 and Algorand with $820,000.

In contrast, Bitcoin ETFs in the US have recovered from a period of declining interest, recording six straight days of net inflows as of March 21.

According to data from SoSoValue, Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of $744.4 million—the biggest tally in eight weeks—extending their daily inflow streak to six consecutive days.

Five funds contributed to the inflows, with the bulk coming from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which recorded $537.5 million. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) followed with $136.5 million.

The renewed inflows come after a bearish period for both the crypto market and the broader global economy, marked by growing concerns over escalating trade tensions and rising recession concerns.

Solana also recorded $6.4m in inflows, while Polygon and Chainlink saw more modest gains of $0.4m and $0.2m, respectively.

Ethereum faces market doubts but gains institutional backing

Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, has faced growing skepticism despite being a foundational asset in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry.

Over the past year, Ether has dropped about 40%, while a broader cryptocurrency index has gained 10%, indicating that Ethereum is losing ground to rival blockchains.

In a note last week, Standard Chartered slashed its year-end price target for Ether by 60% to $4,000, citing Ethereum’s increasing reliance on layer-2 scaling solutions. The bank noted that Ethereum has “essentially commoditized itself within its self-created Layer-2 framework,” raising doubts about its long-term dominance in the blockchain ecosystem.

However, institutional interest in Ethereum remains strong. According to Token Terminal, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund—which primarily invests in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs)—now holds a record $1.15 billion worth of Ether, up from about $990 million just a week earlier.

The fresh injection of ETH signals growing conviction from the world’s largest asset manager in Ethereum’s role as the leading infrastructure for real-world asset tokenization.

Market sentiment on crypto has improved since the past week, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index improving to 45% from 32% last week. However, Singapore-based investment firm QCP Capital advised caution regarding the likelihood of a sustained breakout.

“Upcoming tariff escalations slated for 2 April could once again pressure risk assets,” QCP said in a March 24 market analysis.