XRP & Solana ETFs Surge While Bitcoin & Ethereum Bleed $4B—Is the Altcoin Takeover Here?
Crypto's old guards are leaking capital—and the alts are feasting.
The great rotation accelerates: While Bitcoin and Ethereum see $4 billion flee, XRP and Solana ETFs are soaking up inflows like Wall Street's new darlings. Traders are voting with their wallets, and the message is clear: diversification isn't just for boomer portfolios anymore.
Institutional whiplash: The same suits who dismissed "altcoin gambling" last cycle now scramble to explain why SOL ETFs are outperforming their precious Bitcoin funds. (Hint: maybe 10,000 TPS beats 'digital gold' narratives when real yields exist.)
The cynical take: Watch the ETF issuers pivot faster than a DeFi degens—yesterday's 'unregistered securities' are today's cash cows. Welcome to finance, where principles melt faster than hot wallet keys.
Bitcoin and Ethereum see major outflows
The enthusiasm for altcoin funds stands in stark contrast to US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs, which recorded significant outflows of more than $3 billion over the three weeks ending Nov. 14.
The redemptions were sustained, beginning with $798 million for the week ending Oct. 31. Outflows then accelerated to $1.2 billion for the week ending Nov. 7, followed by another $1.1 billion shed for the week ending Nov. 14.
Ethereum ETFs experienced a similar trend, shedding more than $1.2 billion in total during the same period. Following modest inflows of $15 million in the last week of October, the ETH funds experienced significant outflows of more than $500 million and $728 million in the subsequent two weeks.
That amounts to a total of $4.2 billion in outflows across Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs alone.
James Butterfill of CoinShares suggested the recent drawdowns from the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are linked to macro-level concerns.
He wrote:
“We believe the combination of monetary policy uncertainty and crypto-native whale sellers are the main reasons for this most recent negative funk.”
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s funds were responsible for around 50% of the redemptions, with IBIT and ETHA collectively losing more than $2 billion. Nearly $1.4 billion left IBIT, while over $700 million exited ETHA.
During this period, BlackRock’s ETHA registered a $421 million outflow, its largest weekly loss since launching in 2024.
Despite the recent pullback, a Q3 2025 overview of IBIT’s institutional ownership showed a 15% increase in the number of institutional holders. Total institutional ownership ROSE by 1% to reach 29%, with Sovereign Wealth Fund and UAE ownership at 2.14% and 4.1%, respectively.
