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Key Takeaways
Did institutional crypto funds pull out last week?
Investors withdrew $1.94 billion from digital asset funds as Bitcoin fell sharply.
Is the Selling Pressure for Bitcoin and Ethereum Over?
The numbers say the forced sales may be coming to an end.
Institutional crypto sentiment took a turn last week, with professional investors retreating like Bitcoin [BTC] has fallen below an important cost base level.
However, the data suggests that the market may be closer to stabilization than it first appears. What happens next depends on one crucial price level… and whether institutions are really done selling.
Institutions are drawing in a lot of money while the outflow continues
Digital asset funds recorded outflows of $1.94 billion last week. This is the fourth straight week of redemptions and one of the biggest runs since 2018.
CoinShares data shows the total at $4.92 billion, equal to 2.9% of total assets under management, so institutional sentiment is almost frozen.
Bitcoin accounted for the largest share, with $1.27 billion disappearing from assets, while Ethereum did so [ETH] saw $589 million disappear, or 7.3% of its assets under management.
Solana [SOL] also saw heavy withdrawals of $156 million, while Ripple’s XRP [XRP] stood out with an inflow of $89.3 million.
Source: CoinShares
Despite the sell-off, we did see a change in pace on Friday. There was a net inflow of $258 million, which is the first indication that institutions may be slowing down a bit.
The ETF data also supports this.
Source: SoSoValue
Bitcoin ETFs had several tough redemption days, including one drop of nearly $900 million, while Ethereum saw outflows of $589 million last week, roughly 7.3% of assets under management.
Source: SoSoValue
Both BTC and ETH ETFs recorded solid inflows on Friday, with Bitcoin even bringing in more than $200 million in a single day. It does not remove the previous damage, but it does show that the selling pressure is decreasing.
No sales preparation peak
The latest data from CryptoQuant shows that the market has not been sending any coins to exchanges in preparation for sales. Actually, the opposite happened.
In the latter part of the week, both Bitcoin and Ethereum saw massive negative net flows.
Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin recorded one of the largest single-day outflows of the quarter, with more than 350,000 BTC leaving exchanges as the price hit the low $87,000 range.
Ethereum showed the same pattern, with more than 1.7 million ETH outflowing during the sharpest decline.
Source: CryptoQuant
A large outflow during a sell-off usually means that investors are taking their coins back into their own hands, and not rushing to dump them.
Combined with small ETF inflows at the end of the week, the worst of the forced selling could be behind us.
The level that everyone looks at
All this is related to the fact that Bitcoin is still trading below its level Active Realized Price of approximately $88,800. When BTC is below this limit, most active investors are at a loss. That is the moment when institutions usually reduce their risk.
It matches the redemptions, even though the exchange flows do not indicate panic selling.
Source: CryptoQuant
A clean move back above $88,800 would turn most active investors back into profits. That’s usually when relief meetings begin.