Bitcoin ETFs see a $175 million spending spree on Christmas Eve

Institutional flows of Bitcoin (BTC) have continued into the new year, with the US claiming the title of the largest seller of BTC.

Key Points:-

Bitcoin ETF nets remain negative for Christmas Eve as institutional investment vehicles lose another $175 million.

Tax liabilities and quarterly option expirations are responsible for poor performance.

There remains hope for a broader recovery after the holiday season.

Analysis: Bitcoin institutional bid to return “soon”.

According to data from UK-based Farside Investors, net outflows of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from the US space totaled more than $175 million on Christmas Eve.

With Wall Street open this week, Bitcoin's institutional capital saw no reason to wrap up for the holidays.

Farside showed that the long selling period continued until the end of the pre-Christmas US trading session, with net inflows of $175.3 million.

The total is similar to the previous five trading days, each of which ended “in the red” with net flows of $825.7 million. Every trading day was in the red except for December 17, which managed to pull in $457.3 million in net income since December 15.

Commenting, market participants attribute the ETF's poor performance to seasonality.

“Most of the selling is due to tax loss collection, which means it's over within a week,” trader Alec wrote on X.

Alec also noted that Friday's record options expiration event could affect appetite.

“This is temporary and institutions will return to bidding soon,” he said.

The accompanying chart underscores a recent phenomenon: the continued decline in BTC prices during US trading sessions.

Coinbase Premium, which measures the price difference between Coinbase's BTC/USD and Binance's BTC/USDT pairs, spent December in negative territory.

“America is now the biggest seller of $BTC. Asia is now the biggest buyer of Bitcoin,” sums up crypto analyst and entrepreneur Ted Truss.

The negative premium reflects a lack of buyer interest from the U.S., which some believe bitcoin needs to recover to hold higher levels.

$BTC turned fully negative at the 90K level Coinbase Premium 9 days ago and has been persistent since then. Also, the price cannot break that 90K level, then it will continue to accept. I think once it turns positive at a premium, they go long and don't cloud the rally. pic.twitter.com/AByz9tPoFA

— exitpump (@exitpumpBTC) December 24, 2025

Bitcoin, Ether ETFs have been stuck since early November

Offering some hope for 2026, trader BitBull argued that negative ETF net flows, even at the 30-day moving average, do not represent “the last market high.”

Related: Bitcoin Institutional Buys New Supply for First Time in 6 Weeks

“Price will stabilize first, flows will become neutral, then only inflows will return. For now, the data indicates that liquidity is inactive, not gone,” he told X Followers about Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) ETF trends.

“A trend reversal may begin when ETF flows turn positive before price takes strong action.”

The 30-day moving average has been consistently negative since early November.

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