Spot bitcoin ETFs shed $395 million as Greenland trade tensions persist

Spot bitcoin BTC exchange-traded funds in the U.S. saw net outflows last Friday, while the crypto market remains subdued following a weekend sell-off triggered by geopolitical concerns. U.S. markets were closed Monday.

According to data from SoSoValue, the bitcoin ETFs posted $394.68 million in net outflows on Friday. 

Outflows were led by Fidelity's FBTC, which reported $205.22 million in negative flows. Grayscale's GBTC, Bitwise's BITB, and Ark & 21Shares' ARKB also posted sizable net outflows, while BlackRock's IBIT recorded net inflows of $15 million.

Friday's net outflows put an end to a four-day inflow streak that saw over $1.8 billion enter the products. Last week's mass inflows coincided with a market rally that extended bitcoin's reach to over $95,800.

The return to outflows preceded the weekend market slump following reports of a potential trade war between the U.S. and the EU.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump threatened to escalate tariffs on imports from eight NATO allies unless Denmark agreed to sell Greenland. In response, EU officials said it is preparing retaliatory measures, including potentially restricting all American services in Europe, imposing new taxes on U.S. companies, or limiting investments in the EU.

The initial wave of headlines pushed bitcoin down to around $92,500 from $95,000. It has since extended its losses, trading at $90,979 at the time of writing, according to The Block's bitcoin price page. 

BTC Markets Crypto Analyst Rachael Lucas told The Block on Monday that the trade war headlines "added a layer of geopolitical uncertainty that markets were in no shape to absorb." Lucas said that market sentiment had already been deteriorating after the highly anticipated markup of the U.S. crypto market structure bill was postponed last week.

If macro pressure persists, bitcoin could fall to the $67,000 to $74,000 region, Lucas noted.

Other crypto ETFs showed subdued net inflows or net outflows on Friday. Ethereum ETFs reported a net inflow of $4.6 million, while spot XRP funds saw $1.1 million in inflows. Solana ETFs reported net outflows of $2.2 million, marking their first daily outflow since Dec. 3.

"With no concrete details yet around trade policy, it's still too early to draw firm conclusions," Min Jung, associate researcher at Presto Research, told The Block. "In the near term, this uncertainty is likely to keep crypto markets volatile."

Correction: ETF data comes from Jan. 16.