Bitcoin ETF ends with seven straight red days, and renewed downward pressure hits the Bitcoin price

U.S. bitcoin spot ETFs turned to net outflows after seven consecutive trading days of net inflows. On the 18th, they lost $163.5 million in a single day, and on the 19th they saw another $51.9 million outflow. At the same time, bitcoin pulled back from this week’s high, once falling below $70,000, indicating that both the capital flows and the price action have weakened in tandem.

Bitcoin ETFs showed a clear turn this week. After drawing in about $1.162 billion over seven straight trading days from March 9 to March 17, money flow momentum reversed starting on the 18th, with a $163.5 million net outflow on that day, followed by another $51.9 million outflow on the 19th, ending the prior streak of consecutive red days. The market had originally expected the ETF buying to continue and provide support for bitcoin to hold above $70,000, but amid the Federal Reserve’s hawkish signals, rising oil prices, and increasing geopolitical risks, the flow of funds has clearly turned more cautious.

According to data, bitcoin ETFs posted net inflows of $199.4 million on the 16th and $199.4 million on the 17th, continuing the inflow momentum from the previous week. However, on the 18th and 19th they switched to net outflows. Based on the currently released data for this week, the four trading days from March 16 to March 19 still saw net inflows of $183.4 million, but the trend has already shifted from “steady inflows” to “a late-stage slowdown.”

By product category, the pressure from this round of weakening mainly comes from major products giving back. On March 18, BlackRock’s IBIT had a single-day outflow of $33.9 million, Fidelity’s FBTC saw an outflow of $103.8 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC also recorded an outflow of $18.8 million. On March 19, FBTC again saw an outflow of $26.0 million, and BITB, ARKB, and GBTC also recorded outflows in sync. This indicates that this adjustment is not a brief fluctuation specific to a single product, but rather a broader cooling of institutional risk appetite.

Bitcoin: After falling below $70,000, it still hasn’t truly stabilized According to Binance data, at the time of writing bitcoin was around $70,756.93. Within 24 hours, it dipped as low as $68,805.52 and rose as high as $71,227.75. Over the last 24 hours, the decline was about 0.75%, and over the last 7 days it is still down slightly by 0.8%. Although the price has not yet seen the kind of steep, selloff-driven plunge like in early February, the $70,000 level has been tested again, and the market has clearly broken below that whole-number support at the lows.

This point is crucial. Because due to the role of ETFs, they usually don’t directly determine the direction of price; instead, they amplify the existing trend. When price moves upward, ETF inflows magnify market optimism; when price weakens, ETF outflows intensify interpretations of “institutional buying slowing down.” Bitcoin is especially worth watching this week because it had just bounced back to around $74,000, but has now slipped back to the edge of $70,000 again—telling the market that while this rebound was driven by inflows, the foundation is still not solid enough.

Because ETF fund flows are ultimately a lagging signal, price is the most immediate reflection of the market’s overall environment. This week’s bitcoin pullback from the high is not only about ETF flows turning to outflows; more importantly, the macro environment has worsened quickly. After the Fed meeting, the market is re-pricing expectations for “higher interest rates for longer.” Combined with the Middle East situation heating up and pushing up oil prices, investors’ appetite for risk assets has clearly shrunk. Traders have pushed back expectations for U.S. rate cuts to around mid-2027, which—undoubtedly—adds pressure to crypto assets that are highly dependent on liquidity and risk appetite.

While the consecutive seven red days in ETFs for a period created an optimistic atmosphere of “institutional capital returning,” what truly determined this week’s price action is still macro variables rather than just capital flows. When the Fed stance turns hawkish, energy prices surge, and geopolitical risk rises, even if bitcoin still has some ETF buying support, it’s difficult to fully break away from the common pricing framework of global risk assets. This also explains why ETF inflows were still present in the first half of this week, yet the bitcoin price failed to hold effectively in higher ranges.

Looking at this week’s tape, $70,000 has become the short-term line between bulls and bears In terms of technicals and sentiment, the importance of $70,000 has been amplified again. This is not just a psychological whole-number level, but also a market confidence gauge for whether the rebound can continue. According to Binance data, bitcoin is still up about 4.63% over the past 30 days, but down 23.64% over the past 60 days, and the decline over the past 90 days reaches 19.75%, showing that the intermediate-term structure has not been fully repaired. In other words, the pullback in this week’s prices is not an isolated event—it looks more like a rebound that got blocked after occurring within an overall intermediate-term weakness.