Journalist
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Key Takeaways
Did institutional crypto funds pull back last week?
Investors withdrew $1.94B from digital asset funds as Bitcoin fell steeply.
Is the selling pressure over for Bitcoin and Ethereum?
The numbers say forced selling may be ending.
Crypto institutional sentiment took a turn last week, with professional investors pulling back as Bitcoin [BTC] slipped below a key cost-basis level.
However, the data reveals a market that may be closer to stabilization than it looks at first glance. What happens next depends on one critical price level… and whether institutions are truly done selling.
Institutions pull big money as outflows continue
Digital asset funds recorded $1.94 billion in outflows in the last week. This is the fourth straight week of redemptions and one of the largest runs since 2018.
CoinShares data shows the total at $4.92 billion, equal to 2.9% of total AUM, so institutional sentiment has near-frozen.
Bitcoin accounted for the bulk with $1.27 billion leaving the asset, while Ethereum [ETH] saw $589 million exit, or 7.3% of its AUM.
Solana [SOL] also saw heavy withdrawals at $156 million, while Ripple’s XRP [XRP] stood out with $89.3 million in inflows.
Source: CoinShares
Despite the sell-down, we did see a change of pace on Friday. There was a $258 million net inflow, which is the first indication that institutions may be easing off the brakes.
The ETF data supports this too.
Source: SoSoValue
Bitcoin ETFs saw several heavy redemption days, including one drop close to $900 million, while Ethereum endured $589M in outflows last week, so roughly 7.3% of AUM,
Source: SoSoValue
Both BTC and ETH ETFs recorded solid inflows on Friday, and Bitcoin even brought in more than $200 million in a single day. It doesn’t erase the earlier damage, but it does show that the selling pressure is slowing.
Not a sell preparation spike
The latest CryptoQuant data shows that the market didn’t send coins onto exchanges to prepare for selling. Actually, the opposite happened.
In the final stretch of the week, both Bitcoin and Ethereum saw huge negative netflows.
Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin recorded one of its biggest single-day outflows of the quarter, with more than 350,000 BTC moving off exchanges as price hit the low-$87K range.
Ethereum showed the same pattern, with over 1.7 million ETH flowing out during its sharpest drawdown.
Source: CryptoQuant
Large outflows during a sell-off usually mean that investors are pulling coins back into self-custody, not rushing to dump them.
Combined with the small ETF inflows at the end of the week, the worst of the forced selling may be behind us.
The level everyone’s watching
All of this ties into Bitcoin still trading below its Active Realized Price of about $88,800. When BTC sits under this line, most active investors are at a loss. That’s when institutions typically de-risk.
It aligns with the redemptions, even though exchange flows don’t indicate panic selling.
Source: CryptoQuant
A clean move back above $88,800 would flip most active investors back into profit. That’s usually when relief rallies begin.
