The tension of the Sino-US trade war has triggered a mass exodus from institutions! Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF net outflow of $755 million in a single day.

Affected by the escalating tensions of the Sino-U.S. trade war, risk aversion in the crypto asset market is rising sharply. On Monday, October 13, Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETF recorded a total net outflow of 755 million USD, marking the largest single-day withdrawal since August 19. Among them, the Ethereum ETF suffered the most, with a net outflow of 428.5 million USD, while the Bitcoin ETF had a net outflow of 326.5 million USD, indicating that institutional investors have shifted towards risk avoidance. As a result, the price of Bitcoin fell below 112,000 USD, and the overall market capitalization of the crypto market shrank by 2.8% in a single day, as traders are waiting for further clarity signals from the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.

Macroeconomic Crisis Erupts: Sino-US Trade Conflict Triggers Largest Capital Outflow in ETF History

Against the backdrop of renewed tensions in Sino-U.S. trade relations, the crypto market has faced strong selling pressure, mainly reflected through the Spot ETF channel.

· Total outflow hits a new high in nearly two months

According to SoSoValue data, on October 13, the total net outflow of Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETFs reached approximately 755 million USD, marking the largest single-day capital withdrawal since August 19. This large-scale outflow ended the strong inflow trend of the previous two weeks, during which Bitcoin ETFs attracted nearly 6 billion USD (3.24 billion USD and 2.71 billion USD) in cumulative inflows, while Ethereum ETFs had a cumulative inflow of about 1.788 billion USD (1.3 billion USD and 488 million USD).

· Ethereum ETF遭遇更重打击

On that day of capital withdrawal, 9 Ethereum Spot ETFs had a net outflow of 428.5 million USD, surpassing the 12 Bitcoin ETFs which had an outflow of 326.5 million USD. BlackRock's ETHA fund experienced the most significant loss, with approximately 310 million USD flowing out, notably, no Ethereum product recorded any inflow that day.

· Bitcoin ETF redemption concentration

The redemption of funds for Bitcoin ETFs is mainly concentrated in Grayscale's GBTC ($145.3 million), Bitwise's BITB ($115.6 million), and Fidelity's FBTC ($93.2 million). Although BlackRock's IBIT has attracted $60.4 million in new inflows against the trend, it has still not managed to reverse the overall negative value.

Institutions Shift to Risk Aversion: Escalating Tariff Conflicts are the Catalyst

This significant outflow of funds indicates that institutional investors' concerns about macro risks have intensified, and they have decisively shifted to a position of risk aversion.

· New tariffs and export controls

U.S. President Trump announced on social media that the United States will impose new 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports, effective November 1. Reports indicate that this move is a retaliation against China's recent global export controls on rare earth minerals and key software, which are critical for high-tech and artificial intelligence manufacturing.

· Conflict Spreads

The impact of trade conflicts is spreading, and China and the United States are preparing to impose new port fees on each other's commercial shipping vessels starting from mid-October 2025. Although US officials have stated that both sides are still seeking to reach an agreement before the November 1 tariff deadline, market uncertainty has reached a critical point.

The market is generally under pressure: Bitcoin falls below 112,000 USD, other altcoins suffer heavy losses.

Affected by the escalating trade concerns, the total market capitalization of the entire crypto market has decreased by 2.8% in the past day, bringing the total market value down to 3.81 trillion dollars.

· Bitcoin and Ethereum both fell

Bitcoin and Ethereum, as the two largest assets by market capitalization, have been hit hardest. Bitcoin briefly fell to a low of $103,000, sharply retreating from its recent historical high just a few days ago. Ethereum fell below the key support level of $3,700. Although both have partially recovered, over the past week, Bitcoin is still down about 9.2%, while Ethereum has dropped about 12.5%. Bitcoin fell nearly 3% in the last 24 hours, dropping below $112,000.

· Other altcoins are experiencing a sharper fall.

The market is generally under pressure, with BNB recording a 10% fall, while Zcash, after experiencing over a 300% rise in the past 30 days, has retraced nearly twice as much as BNB. The declines of XRP and Dogecoin also exceeded 5%.

On-chain Signals and Institutional Dynamics: Large Institutions Are Still Accumulating

Despite the short-term price weakness, on-chain data and the continuous buying activities of some institutions indicate positive signals at a deeper level in the market.

· Deleveraging creates conditions for growth

CryptoQuant analysts pointed out that the pullback in the crypto market has triggered a large-scale liquidation of leveraged positions, creating conditions for a new round of growth in crypto assets. The leverage ratio (ELR), which measures the average leverage of traders, has fallen to its lowest level since 2022. Data from Glassnode shows that the funding rate in the cryptocurrency derivatives market has also reached its lowest level since the 2022 bear market, which is typically a signal that the market is bottoming out and preparing to rise again.

· Large institutions are still buying on the dip.

Data shows that Strategy purchased 220 Bitcoins (worth $27.2 million) last week, bringing its total assets under management to 640,250 Bitcoins (worth approximately $7.3 billion). In addition, BitMine also took the opportunity of the price fall to purchase an additional 202,037 Ethers, increasing its total reserves to 3.03 million Ethers, accounting for 2.5% of the total Ether supply.

· The new fund targets BNB

According to Bloomberg, Hong Kong-based China Renaissance Holdings is in talks to raise $600 million to create a fund focused on accumulating BNB, with plans to list its shares on the U.S. stock market.

Conclusion

The macro risk-averse sentiment triggered by the China-U.S. trade conflict is the direct reason for the record outflow of funds from Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Although in the short term, the market will remain in a wait-and-see mode, traders are closely monitoring whether buying interest in the $108,000 to $109,000 range will reappear, and whether $112,000 can be held. However, in the long run, on-chain indicators suggest that market leverage has been cleared, and the ongoing accumulation by large institutions like Strategy and BitMine indicates that value investors are taking advantage of panic to accumulate. The future direction of the crypto market will largely depend on the outcome of the China-U.S. trade negotiations on November 1.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. The crypto market is highly volatile, and investors should make decisions with caution.