U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs hemorrhaged $635 million in a single day on Tuesday, May 13, marking the largest one-day outflow since January 29. The mass exit was catalyzed by hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan, which ignited a global risk-off move and spilled over into over $500 million in crypto liquidations. Bitcoin’s price tumbled more than 2% in 24 hours to $79,400, halting a rally that had pushed prices from $65,000 toward $82,000.
The $635 million outflow brings total net outflows across the 11 U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs to $1.26 billion over five trading days, eroding cumulative net inflows since the January 2024 launch from $59.76 billion to $58.5 billion. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) dominated the redemptions, accounting for $285 million of the total—the single largest daily exit by any issuer since the ETFs debuted. Fidelity’s FBTC and Ark’s ARKB also saw elevated exits, though SoSoValue’s data focused on the aggregate.
The transmission mechanism was direct: the Bank of Japan reinforced its rate-hiking stance, strengthening the yen and forcing institutional desks with yen-funded risk positions to shed high-beta assets. Crypto, sitting at the far end of the risk spectrum, absorbed a disproportionate share of that deleveraging. “A persistently hot CPI, an incoming Fed under Warsh that markets read as more hawkish, or another oil shock can compress bitcoin even with positive net flows,” said Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group.
Bitcoin was already technically vulnerable, having stalled at the 200-day simple moving average just above $82,000. When macro-driven selling hit that resistance, leveraged longs crumbled—exchange data pointed to Binance and OKX as primary venues for the bulk of $500 million in long liquidations. The ETF outflows represented the institutional layer of the same story: the bullish flow narrative that had driven $3.29 billion in inflows through March and April required accommodative macro conditions; once the BOJ signaled otherwise, institutional redemptions followed because risk-budget calculus shifted, not Bitcoin’s fundamentals.
The pressure extended to Ethereum ETFs as well. U.S. spot Ethereum products recorded $36.3 million in net outflows on May 13, with BlackRock’s ETHA posting $21.1 million in redemptions. While smaller in scale, the direction was consistent and suggests BlackRock’s investor base applied similar risk assessments across both assets. The outflows land at a fragile moment—regulatory fog, thin spot liquidity, and a pending U.S. Senate crypto bill keep the market on edge. A single day does not make a trend, but with IBIT bleeding nearly $300 million, the next few sessions will be critical in determining whether this is a one-day portfolio adjustment or the start of a broader unwind.
