Bitcoin Moves Independently of Stocks as ETF Outflows Mount
Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw heavy outflows again, while BlackRock’s IBIT has now posted outflows for seven straight days. The market is now watching U.S. CPI and the role of Wall Street infrastructure like Avalanche.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin barely moved with the U.S. stock market on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted strong gains.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw another $201 million in outflows on Monday, bringing total outflows since November 2 to about $1.5 billion.
- The upcoming U.S. CPI data could affect sentiment around Bitcoin, while Wall Street continues to lean into blockchain infrastructure.
Bitcoin moved notably independently of the U.S. stock market on Monday. While the S&P 500 had its best day since April 8 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.7%, Bitcoin stayed almost flat. The biggest crypto is down 1.4% since midnight UTC and has barely changed over the past 24 hours.
ETF Outflows Continue
The money flows offer part of the explanation. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost another $201 million (€180 million) on Monday, according to Farside Investors. That brings outflows since November 2 to about $1.5 billion (€1.3 billion). On a year-to-date basis, the funds are now down about $1.1 billion (€1 billion), after more than $20 billion (€17.9 billion) in net inflows in each of the past two years.
BlackRock’s IBIT has now logged outflows for seven trading days in a row. At the same time, supply on the market is growing because miner MARA Holdings said it sold 13,597 BTC over the past six weeks for about $1.1 billion (€1 billion) and plans to sell more. Interest on the retail side also appears to be fading: Santiment has seen a drop of about 108,700 non-empty Bitcoin wallets since October 16.
Wall Street Looks for New Rails
Meanwhile, Wall Street keeps building on crypto infrastructure. The New York Stock Exchange chose Avalanche for settling transactions on a planned 24/7 tokenized securities platform. The AVAX token rose about 5% over the past 24 hours as a result. That shows traditional financial firms are increasingly using blockchain for new investment products, even though direct demand for Bitcoin remains weak right now.
CPI Could Change the Picture
The next test comes from the U.S. inflation data at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect headline CPI to rise 0.3% in October and core CPI to rise 0.2%, slower than in September. Analysts at BRN say Bitcoin needs “real buying power, not a lucky break".