Record $2.57B Flees Bitcoin ETFs as BlackRock’s IBIT Sheds $1.6B

ETF stampede in November: the numbers (and the chaos)

In mid-November, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a brutal wave of redemptions — about $2.57 billion flowed out through Nov. 17, the worst monthly drop since their January 2024 debut. Bitcoin didn’t enjoy the party either, sliding roughly 14.7% and briefly dipping to $89,253.78 on Nov. 17 before bouncing back to about $93,426.16 (a roughly 1.3% 24‑hour gain).

The biggest single-day shock came around Nov. 13, when roughly $866.7 million left the funds in one of the largest daily retreats on record. The next day, BlackRock’s IBIT took the lion’s share of the pain, logging a roughly $463.1 million outflow. By the halfway point of the month, IBIT alone had accounted for nearly $1.6 billion of the total redemption haul — a concentrated exodus from the largest and most liquid fund.

Why ETF flows actually nudge Bitcoin’s price (it’s more mechanical than emotional)

ETF flows aren’t just spreadsheet drama — they map directly into spot demand through a creation/redemption pipeline run by authorized participants (APs). When money pours in, APs must acquire actual Bitcoin to deliver to the fund’s custodian. That’s real buying pressure on the spot market. When money leaves, funds either sell Bitcoin or unwind hedges, which adds real selling pressure.

This machinery operates mostly outside retail exchange traffic: think retirement accounts, wirehouses, and institutional platforms that don’t normally touch on‑chain markets. When those allocators reverse course, they remove a steady buyer that had been soaking up miner issuance and other supply.

To put some numbers on the supply side: miners are producing roughly 450 BTC per day after the halving. If buyers consistently scoop up more than that daily output, you get negative net new supply — a setup that typically helps prices climb. Flip that to redemptions and the market suddenly needs new buyers to step in or the price can slide.

Timing complicates the picture. APs generally do their buying during U.S. market hours around share creations, but public flow reports land after the market close. Some players hedge with futures (for example on CME) before they buy spot, so intraday price moves can bounce between derivatives and cash markets. In plain English: price action can happen hours before the headlines tell you why.

Flows aren’t destiny, though. Bitcoin can rally even on outflow days if offshore leverage perks up or other buyer groups appear. And big inflows don’t guarantee gains if macro turbulence, dollar strength, or liquidation cascades dominate sentiment. Still, over multi‑week stretches persistent redemptions do erode the structural demand and push the price floor lower — which is exactly what November’s redemptions tested.

November’s pullback removed a key support just as the market was digesting earlier inflows that had lifted Bitcoin above roughly $111,000 earlier in the month. IBIT’s concentrated $1.6 billion of redemptions was particularly meaningful because it exceeded the total monthly outflows seen in prior periods for major funds, underscoring how concentrated the selling pressure was.

There was some buying interest when Bitcoin reclaimed the low‑$90k area, so all is not doom and gloom. But the month’s wear‑and‑tear shows how much ETFs have become a structural bid for the market — and how quickly that bid can evaporate when allocators rotate out. The big question remains: can ETF demand act as a shock absorber during future selloffs, or will these vehicles sometimes amplify the ride?