Bitcoin Slides Below 97K as Market Retreats Intensifies

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $869.9 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the second-largest daily withdrawal since the products launched.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust led the wave with $318.2 million exiting the fund, followed by $256.6 million leaving BlockRock’s IBIT and $119.9 million pulled from Fidelity’s FBTC. Outflows were also posted across Grayscale’s GBTC, Ark/21Shares, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Valkyrie, and Franklin Templeton vehicles.

The only larger outflow day remains Feb. 25, 2025, when U.S. bitcoin ETFs saw a record $1.14 billion redeemed in a single session.

The Thursday drain arrived alongside a broad crypto slump. Bitcoin slid 6.4% to $96,956, with market liquidity thinning out as liquidations accelerated and bids failed to keep pace.

Market participants described the move as part of a wider de-risking phase across global assets. Rising macro uncertainty, cooling labor data, and shifting expectations around Federal Reserve policy have all weighed on appetite for higher-volatility instruments.

ETF flows, charts, and order-book depth collectively point to a support band between $92,000 and $95,000, an area where buyers have begun rebuilding interest. Should that zone break, traders are eyeing the lower-$90K region as the next critical level—and a potential entry point for sidelined capital waiting for a reset after Bitcoin’s surge past the mid-$120Ks earlier this year.

Rate-cut expectations have also been repriced. The probability of a December cut has slipped to 52.1%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, adding another layer of uncertainty to near-term crypto positioning.

Despite the turbulence, structural demand for digital assets remains intact, with long-horizon investors framing the outflows as part of a cyclical cooldown rather than a shift in long-term adoption.