Investors pull $326 million from spot bitcoin ETFs prior to Trump's new tariffs

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw $326.27 million leave the products on Tuesday, marking their largest daily net outflows since March 11, as traders assessed the impact of Trump's massive tariffs that took full effect at midnight on Wednesday.

"The largest outflow since March 11 points to renewed macro-driven risk aversion, with tariff headlines potentially compounding pressure on risk assets," Rick Maeda, research analyst of Presto Research, told The Block. "ETF flows are likely to remain volatile, and history suggests investors often sell indiscriminately in risk-off environments, narrative aside."

BlackRock's IBIT led the outflows on Tuesday, with $252.9 million exiting the fund, according to SoSoValue data . Bitwise's BITB recorded $21.7 million in net outflows, while Ark and 21Shares' ARKB saw $19.9 million leave the ETF. Grayscale's GBTC and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust also reported outflows, as did Franklin's EZBC and Invesco's BTCO.

Tuesday's outflows extended the streak of negative flows for spot bitcoin ETFs to four consecutive days. They recorded $109.2 million in net outflows on Monday. Trading volume for these ETFs amounted to $3 billion on Tuesday, down from $6.6 billion on Monday and $4.4 billion last Friday.

Global investors continue to closely monitor the fallout from the ongoing market meltdown triggered by U.S. President Trump's announcement of reciprocal tariffs last week. The new tariffs, including a 104% tariff on Chinese imports, are now in full effect. 

Asian stocks posted mixed performances on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping 3.9% and the Shanghai Composite rising 1.3% by the close. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4%.

Major U.S. stock indexes ended lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.84%, and the SP 500 fell 1.57%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.15%.

Maeda of Presto noted that a shock to the global trade system is "typically negative for risk assets" in the short term, as investors step back to reassess the landscape. However, Maeda added that in macro markets, "anticipated risk often hits harder than realized outcomes," suggesting that the actual implementation of tariffs — despite being a concern — could shift markets from uncertainty to clarity and help stabilize risk sentiment.

Bitcoin fell 2.6% over the past 24 hours to $77,465 at the time of writing, giving up gains from a brief rally above $80,000 on Tuesday following a major sell-off earlier this week, according to The Block’s price page .

Meanwhile, spot ether ETFs recorded $3.29 million in net outflows on Tuesday after logging no flows on Monday.