US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded a net outflow of $450.4 million on 15 September 2026, erasing the previous session’s recovery and extending a stretch of heavy exits as traders braced for a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision later that week.
Bitcoin ETF outflows reverse Monday’s price recovery
On 14 September 2026, US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted a net $159.9 million inflow, a brief pause after consecutive days of withdrawals. That one-day recovery lasted a single session before the following day’s selling reversed it entirely. For related coverage, see Bitcoin Core v32.0rc1: Wallet Defaults and October 10 Target.
Tuesday’s session brought a net outflow of $450.4 million from the same funds, more than wiping out Monday’s rebound in a single day. That swing marks the largest single-day withdrawal in the current stretch, according to Farside Investors’ daily ETF flow table. For related coverage, see DeFi Bridge Hack: 25 Cents in Bitcoin, 46 Billion Fake BTC.
The exit was spread across several funds. Fidelity’s FBTC led with $214.8 million in outflows, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT at $161.7 million. Grayscale’s GBTC contributed $44.1 million, ARK Invest’s ARKB $17.4 million, and Bitwise’s BITB $12.4 million. This pattern contrasts sharply with earlier periods when ETF inflows returned to spot funds and helped stabilise Bitcoin prices. For related coverage, see US charges two Robinhood engineers in alleged $50K crypto scheme.
Over six completed trading days from 8 to 15 September, the funds collectively shed a net $753.2 million. Individual daily outflows in that stretch ran at $46.6 million, $120.2 million, $282.7 million, and $13.2 million before Monday’s brief inflow and Tuesday’s sharp reversal. ETF redemptions mean investors return fund shares and the funds sell Bitcoin in response; that process does not automatically prove those sales caused specific price moves, but the timing and scale add measurable sell-side pressure. Institutional interest in Bitcoin-linked fund products has grown significantly in recent years, including through vehicles such as Brazil’s DIGY11, which ties fund exposure to Bitcoin treasury companies.
Spot selling adds pressure to Bitcoin’s pullback
Spot selling means direct sales of actual Bitcoin on exchanges, as opposed to trading futures or derivatives contracts. It is the most straightforward form of selling pressure: a holder wants out and sells Bitcoin at the current market price.
Glassnode’s Week 38 market report, published 14 September 2026, found that the spot cumulative volume delta fell to negative $142.7 million, below its negative $115.3 million low band. Cumulative volume delta measures whether more Bitcoin is being sold than bought at the prevailing price; a reading outside the low band signals that sellers are in control by an unusually wide margin.
Derivatives markets compounded the picture. Perpetual futures showed a cumulative volume delta of negative $605.9 million, while Bitcoin futures open interest reached $36.4 billion, above its $36.0 billion high band. Elevated open interest alongside a negative volume delta can indicate traders are positioned short or hedging existing long positions, both of which weigh on price.
Glassnode analyst Frederik Theissen noted in the same report that the market is absorbing the selling without breaking down. “So far the market absorbs the selling rather than breaking down, new capital keeps entering and most of the supply remains in profit,” Theissen wrote in the Week 38 report. That is a meaningful caution against reading current data as a structural breakdown rather than pre-event positioning.
Fed decision puts Bitcoin traders on watch
The immediate backdrop for all of this is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for 15 to 16 September 2026. The Fed’s official calendar marks this meeting as one that includes a Summary of Economic Projections, meaning the committee will also release updated interest-rate forecasts alongside its policy decision.
For Bitcoin holders, Fed meetings matter because rate expectations shape investor appetite for risk. When rates are expected to stay high or rise further, investors often reduce exposure to riskier assets, including cryptocurrencies. Before a major policy announcement, many institutional fund managers cut positions to avoid being caught on the wrong side of the decision.
The ETF outflows in this window are best read as pre-meeting positioning rather than a verdict on Bitcoin’s long-term direction. Whether a similar pattern of inflows re-emerges after the Fed decision will depend on what the committee signals about the rate path ahead.
After the decision, the key signals to watch are the daily ETF flow figures from Farside, the spot cumulative volume delta from Glassnode, and Bitcoin’s price reaction in the hours following the announcement. A return of net inflows alongside a spot volume delta moving back toward positive territory would suggest the pre-meeting selling was temporary. Continued outflows would point to something more persistent.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
