Bitcoin ETF Exodus: $2.8 Billion Flees as Long Liquidations Match FTX Collapse Levels

Massive capital flight hits Bitcoin ETFs—investors yank $2.8 billion while leveraged positions unravel at rates not seen since the FTX implosion.

The Great Unwind

Liquidations hammer long positions across derivatives markets, creating a cascade effect that's rattling even seasoned crypto veterans. The numbers don't lie—we're witnessing deleveraging on a scale that echoes the darkest days of 2022.

Institutional Cold Feet

ETF outflows tell the real story: when the big money gets spooked, they don't walk—they run. $2.8 billion vanished faster than a trader's confidence during a flash crash. Meanwhile, the liquidation spike suggests over-leveraged bulls learned nothing from previous market massacres.

Silver Linings Playbook

History shows these violent flush-outs often create rock-solid foundations for the next leg up. The weak hands get shaken out, leverage resets, and genuine value investors step in. Because nothing cleanses a market quite like a good old-fashioned margin call bloodbath—Wall Street's version of natural selection.

New ETF Investors Face First Real Test

CryptosRus observed that this particular downturn marks the first real test of the new group of investors in the spot ETF market who entered the market early this year.

 Most of them have never experienced a proper bear market MOVE in Bitcoin and are accustomed to easy money.

The difference when the gains turn into losses has presented them with a moment of truth. They own Bitcoin at levels above the market price.

However, deeper market behavior paints a different picture. Institutional buyers and long-term investors are buying and not selling.

These two groups of people are the ones who often start buying when the crowds are frightened and often usher in the beginning of the recovery phase.

Bitcoin Long Liquidations Return to FTX-Era Levels

Darkfost also highlighted the next problem emerging from the downturn: the large number of long liquidations.

Traders attempted to jumpstart the market through large leverage-longing investments because the price dropped and created a chain reaction of the same type as the November 2022 FTX collapse.

During this event, the number of long positions of 10,600 BTC was liquidated in a day. This trend has also been found in recent data. On the 10th of October, there were long liquidations of 9,307 BTC, while the amounts recorded on the 14th and 21st of November were 10,430 BTC and 9,450 BTC, respectively.

This helps understand the level of dependence of the market on leverage levels and the speed at which momentum declines when liquidations start adding up.