Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds and Market Overview

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. experienced net outflows on February 18 as Bitcoin briefly dropped below $95,000. This decline was influenced by diminishing expectations of former President Trump approving a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) in the U.S.

According to data from SoSoValue, the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs reported a net outflow of $60.63 million, reversing the previous day’s net inflow of $66.19 million.

The major outflow was from Bitwise’s BITB, which saw $112.65 million exit, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $16.42 million in outflows. Conversely, BlackRock’s IBIT attracted $68.44 million, partially offsetting these losses, while the remaining nine Bitcoin ETFs recorded no flows.

Despite these outflows, trading activity surged, with daily volume reaching $2.83 billion on February 18, up from $2.2 billion the day before.

In contrast, nine spot Ethereum ETFs maintained a positive trend, recording a modest $4.6 million in inflows, entirely from Fidelity’s FETH, which saw inflows for the third consecutive day. The other ETH ETFs remained neutral for the day.

The mixed market conditions reflect a broader sentiment shift as Bitcoin dipped below $95,000, part of a downtrend since hitting an all-time high of $109,200 a month prior. A critical factor in this decline is falling confidence in the establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under Trump’s administration.

On Polymarket, a prediction market gauging this prospect, the probability of Trump launching an SBR in his first 100 days has plummeted to 11%, significantly down from 40% in January. This decline indicates growing skepticism among investors regarding the administration’s commitment to a reserve.

Despite the setbacks, discussions are reportedly ongoing within the Trump administration about a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. David Sacks, a notable venture capitalist overseeing crypto and AI policy, has confirmed these conversations.

As of press time, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 0.4% over the past day, trading at $95,287, while Ethereum (ETH) was stable at $2,688 per coin.

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