Bitcoin ETFs bleed $866M in second-worst day on record, but some analysts still bullish
Demand for Bitcoin and crypto-linked investment funds continued to decline Thursday, despite the long-awaited end of the 43-day US government shutdown.
US spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $866 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking their second-worst day on record after the $1.14 billion daily outflows on Feb. 25, 2025, according to Farside Investors.
This marked the second consecutive day of outflows for the Bitcoin ETFs, as the end of the 43-day US government shutdown failed to reignite investor appetite.
The $866 million outflows occurred a day after President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill on Wednesday. The bill provides funding until Jan. 30, 2026.
Related: Metaplanet’s Bitcoin gains fall 39% as October crash pressures corporate treasuries
The lack of ETF demand is causing significant concerns among crypto investors, as these funds were the primary drivers of Bitcoin’s momentum in 2025, alongside Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
However, Bitcoin’s bull market is still intact until the price falls below the key $94,000 level, or the average cost basis of investors who bought Bitcoin in the past six to 12 months, according to Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of crypto intelligence platform CryptoQuant.
“Personally, I do not think the bear cycle is confirmed unless we lose that level. I would rather wait than jump to conclusions,” wrote Ju in a Friday X post.
Other industry watchers argued that the four-year cycle theory is no longer relevant, given the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and the new US administration.
“Since the launch of the Bitcoin ETFs and new administration, we’ve entered a new market structure,” wrote Hunter Horsley, the CEO of asset management firm Bitwise, in a Thursday X post.
“I think there’s a pretty good chance that we’ve been in a bear market for almost 6 months now and are almost through it.”
“The setup for crypto right now has never been stronger,” Horsley added.
Related: Taiwan premier promises Bitcoin reserve assessment report by end of 2025
XRP ETF outperforms all ETF launches in 2025, signaling underlying crypto appetite
Despite concerns over the market cycle, emerging altcoin ETFs are signaling underlying appetite for cryptocurrencies.
The Canary Capital XRP (XRPC) ETF launched on Thursday, as the first US-based ETF holding spot XRP (XRP) tokens, Cointelegraph reported.
The XRP ETF’s debut topped all other crypto and traditional ETF launches of 2025, signaling more demand for regulated altcoin funds.
“Congrats to $XRPC for $58m in Day One volume, the most of any ETF launched this year (out of 900), BARELY edging out $BSOL’s $57m,” wrote Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in a Thursday X post.
“The two of them are in league of their own, tho as 3rd place is over $20m away,” he added.
As for the other crypto funds, Ether (ETH) ETFs logged $259 million in outflows on Thursday, but the Solana (SOL) ETFs received $1.5 million in inflows, extending their 13-day winning streak, according to Farside Investors.
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Millionaire Tory donor Malcolm Offord has defected to Reform UK, saying he would be campaigning “tirelessly” to “remove this rotten SNP government”.
Nigel Farage announced the former Conservative life peer’s defection during a rally in the Scottish town of Falkirk, where regular anti-immigration protests have taken place outside the Cladhan Hotel – which is being used to house asylum seekers.
Mr Farage, Reform UK’s leader, said he was “delighted” to welcome Greenock-born Lord Offord to Reform, describing his defection as “a brave and historic act”.
He added: “He will take Reform UK Scotland to a new level.”
During a speech, Lord Offord, who previously donated nearly £150,000 to the Tories, said he would be quitting the Conservative Party and giving up his place in the House of Lords as he prepares to campaign for a seat in Holyrood in May.
The 61-year-old said he wanted to restore Scotland to a “prosperous, happy, healthy country”.
“Scotland needs Reform and Reform is coming to Scotland,” he told the rally.
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“Today I can announce that I am resigning from the Conservative Party. Today I am joining Reform UK and today I announce my intention to stand for Reform in the Holyrood election in May next year.
“And that means that from today, for the next five months, day and night, I shall be campaigning with all of you tirelessly for two objectives.
“The first objective is to remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years, and the second is to present a positive vision for Scotland inside the UK, to restore Scotland to being a prosperous, proud, healthy and happy country.”
The latest defection comes as Mr Farage finds himself at the centre of allegations of racism dating back to his time in school.
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Claims made against Nigel Farage
Sky News reported on Saturday that a former schoolfriend of Mr Farage claimed he sang antisemitic songs to Jewish schoolmates – and had a “big issue with anyone called Patel”.
Jean-Pierre Lihou, 61, was initially friends with the Reform UK leader when he arrived at Dulwich College in the 1970s, at the time when Mr Farage is accused of saying antisemitic and other racist remarks by more than a dozen pupils.
Mr Farage has said he “never directly racially abused anybody” at Dulwich and said there is a “strong political element” to the allegations coming out 49 years later.
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has called the ex-classmates “liars”.
A Reform UK spokesman accused Sky News of “scraping the barrel” and being “desperate to stop us winning the next election”.
The European Commission’s proposal to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is raising concerns about the centralization of the bloc’s licensing regime, despite signaling deeper institutional ambitions for its capital markets structure.
On Thursday, the Commission published a package proposing to “direct supervisory competences” for key pieces of market infrastructure, including crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), trading venues and central counterparties to ESMA, Cointelegraph reported.
Concerningly, the ESMA’s jurisdiction would extend to both the supervision and licensing of all European crypto and financial technology (fintech) firms, potentially leading to slower licensing regimes and hindering startup development, according to Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at decentralized lending protocol Morpho.
“I am even more concerned that the proposal makes ESMA responsible for both the authorisation and the supervision of CASPs, not only the supervision,” she told Cointelegraph.
The proposal still requires approval from the European Parliament and the Council, which are currently under negotiation.
If adopted, ESMA’s role in overseeing EU capital markets would more closely resemble the centralized framework of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a concept first proposed by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde in 2023.
Related: Bank of America backs 1%–4% crypto allocation, opens door to Bitcoin ETFs
EU plan to centralize licensing under ESMA creates crypto and fintech slowdown concerns
The proposal to “centralize” this oversight under a single regulatory body seeks to address the differences in national supervisory practices and uneven licensing regimes, but risks slowing down overall crypto industry development, Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at Brickken asset tokenization platform, told Cointelegraph.
“Without adequate resources, this mandate may become unmanageable, leading to delays or overly cautious assessments that could disproportionately affect smaller or innovative firms.”
“Ultimately, the effectiveness of this reform will depend less on its legal form and more on its institutional execution,” including ESMA’s operational capacity, independence and cooperation “channels” with member states, she said.
Related: Grayscale Chainlink ETF draws $41M on debut, but not ‘blockbuster’
The broader package aims to boost wealth creation for EU citizens by making the bloc’s capital markets more competitive with those of the US.
The US stock market is worth approximately $62 trillion, or 48% of the global equity market, while the EU stock market’s cumulative value sits around $11 trillion, representing 9% of the global share, according to data from Visual Capitalist.
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