Cointelegraph by Zoltan Vardai
Demand for Bitcoin and crypto-linked investment funds continued to decline Thursday, despite the long-awaited end of the 43-day US government shutdown.
US spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $866 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking their second-worst day on record after the $1.14 billion daily outflows on Feb. 25, 2025, according to Farside Investors.
This marked the second consecutive day of outflows for the Bitcoin ETFs, as the end of the 43-day US government shutdown failed to reignite investor appetite.
The $866 million outflows occurred a day after President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill on Wednesday. The bill provides funding until Jan. 30, 2026.
Related: Metaplanet’s Bitcoin gains fall 39% as October crash pressures corporate treasuries
The lack of ETF demand is causing significant concerns among crypto investors, as these funds were the primary drivers of Bitcoin’s momentum in 2025, alongside Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
However, Bitcoin’s bull market is still intact until the price falls below the key $94,000 level, or the average cost basis of investors who bought Bitcoin in the past six to 12 months, according to Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of crypto intelligence platform CryptoQuant.
“Personally, I do not think the bear cycle is confirmed unless we lose that level. I would rather wait than jump to conclusions,” wrote Ju in a Friday X post.
Other industry watchers argued that the four-year cycle theory is no longer relevant, given the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and the new US administration.
“Since the launch of the Bitcoin ETFs and new administration, we’ve entered a new market structure,” wrote Hunter Horsley, the CEO of asset management firm Bitwise, in a Thursday X post.
“I think there’s a pretty good chance that we’ve been in a bear market for almost 6 months now and are almost through it.”
“The setup for crypto right now has never been stronger,” Horsley added.
Related: Taiwan premier promises Bitcoin reserve assessment report by end of 2025
XRP ETF outperforms all ETF launches in 2025, signaling underlying crypto appetite
Despite concerns over the market cycle, emerging altcoin ETFs are signaling underlying appetite for cryptocurrencies.
The Canary Capital XRP (XRPC) ETF launched on Thursday, as the first US-based ETF holding spot XRP (XRP) tokens, Cointelegraph reported.
The XRP ETF’s debut topped all other crypto and traditional ETF launches of 2025, signaling more demand for regulated altcoin funds.
“Congrats to $XRPC for $58m in Day One volume, the most of any ETF launched this year (out of 900), BARELY edging out $BSOL’s $57m,” wrote Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in a Thursday X post.
“The two of them are in league of their own, tho as 3rd place is over $20m away,” he added.
As for the other crypto funds, Ether (ETH) ETFs logged $259 million in outflows on Thursday, but the Solana (SOL) ETFs received $1.5 million in inflows, extending their 13-day winning streak, according to Farside Investors.
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