For months, Bitcoin received strong support from major financial institutions, especially through Spot Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs. Many believed this would bring stability to the market. But that faith is now being tested.
On February 24, Bitcoin fell below the important level of $63,000. At the same time, ETFs intended to support prices became the biggest sellers.
On February 23 alone, investors pulled $203.8 million from these funds.
Source: Farside Investors
This outflow series, with a few exceptions, shows a real change in behavior. Sales no longer come mainly from small retailers. Now large institutions are also resigning their positions.
Needless to say, these were the same players who were once seen as long-term owners.
How did Bitcoin’s price sentiment change?
With Bitcoin now trade nearly 50% below its October 2025 peak of $126,000, the mood has changed.
The current selloff is a sharp break from what we’ve seen over the past two years. When the US Bitcoin ETFs launched in early 2024, they quickly became the main driver of one of the strongest bull runs in crypto history.
During this period, Bitcoin rose from around $40,000 to a peak of $126,000, an increase of more than 220%. This rally was largely driven by how easy these ETFs made it for large investors to buy Bitcoin.
But in 2026 the situation has changed.
One way to see the damage is through the average purchase price of ETF investors. Right now, that average is around $84,100. With Bitcoin struggling at nearly $68,000, most ETF holders are looking at losses of around 20%.
What happened in February?
Although there was a brief moment of hope on February 20, by February 23 it was clear that the selling pressure was still intense.
On the day itself, investors took out millions, and the sales were not evenly distributed. An important signal came from BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, which accounted for more than half of all outflows.
VanEck’s HODL ETF was the only one to see fresh money, with inflows of $6.4 million. This suggests that a small group of investors believe prices below $70,000 are a good time to buy. For now, however, their purchase is too small to change the overall trend.
On the same day, Ethereum [ETH] ETFs also saw heavy selling. In just one day, $49.5 million was left of these funds.
Most of that came from BlackRock’s ETHA, which saw $45.4 million in withdrawals alone. Smaller outflows were also observed at VanEck and Fidelity.
There is a shift happening under the wraps
However, not everything falls apart.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are losing money, Solana is losing [SOL] ETFs are seeing new inflows. On February 23, Bitcoin lost hundreds of millions, and the Solana funds made $8 million. Most of this came from Bitwise’s BSOL, which raised $6.3 million.
Meanwhile Ripple [XRP] ETFs show no movement at all. On both February 20 and 23 there was a net inflow or outflow of zero. This suggests that XRP investors are waiting on the sidelines, unsure of the market’s direction.
Source: SoSo value
Therefore, the most important signal to watch over the course of 2026 is not just the price, but also the ETF flows.
Finally, the current selling streak must slow and eventually stop if Bitcoin and Ethereum are to recover strongly. All in all, the next phase will depend on whether sales dry up or accelerate further.
Final summary
- Six consecutive weeks of ETF outflows with a few days of exceptions show that this is not panic selling; it is a persistent change in behavior.
- BlackRock’s large outflows indicate that even the strongest institutional hands are not immune to market stress.