Bitcoin ETFs lose billions: AI stocks are pulling the capital
US spot bitcoin ETFs are back at their late-2024 level. More than €2.7 billion has already flowed out this year, while AI and chip funds are raising billions.
US spot bitcoin ETFs stood at €67.5 billion in net assets on 9 June — back to the level just after the US elections in late 2024. According to Reuters figures, more than €2.7 billion in net outflows already left the large bitcoin ETFs in 2026. Bitcoin thus had its weakest start to a year in at least ten years.
Thirteen red days in a row
The outflow has been persistent in recent weeks. Only on 4 June did a streak of thirteen consecutive outflow days end, which together cost about €3.8 billion. The heaviest day was 27 May, when, according to Farside data, €638 million disappeared from the funds — with a large share for BlackRock's IBIT. The one green day afterwards (€2.7 million inflow) was more of a ripple than a turn: outflows resumed in early June.
Capital chooses a different story
The explanation lies not so much in crypto itself, but in the competition for capital. AI stocks and chipmakers are attracting the money that previously headed toward bitcoin. The four largest semiconductor ETFs raised more than €2.6 billion in the first week of June alone, and around €18.3 billion in total this year. US semiconductor indexes rose sharply over the past year, while bitcoin, according to Reuters, sits around 40% lower than a year ago.
Within the crypto market the picture is also shifting: bitcoin's market share fell from 63% to 56% in a year, while stablecoins grew from around 7% to nearly 13%.
What does this mean for the price?
A friendlier political climate in Washington turns out to be no guarantee of inflows. In recent years the ETFs were the engine that brought pension money and institutional allocation into bitcoin; now that the engine is sputtering, every price rally lacks fresh buying pressure. For a recovery, the market does not need to wait for a bear-market bottom, but for the moment bitcoin becomes more attractive than the AI story again — and that moment is hard to predict.
Source: CryptoBenelux, Reuters, Farside
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