Bitcoin price stalls under $88k as ETFs shed over $825M amid 5-day outflow streak

Bitcoin price continued to remain under pressure on Thursday as U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net outflows for a fifth consecutive day.

According to data from SoSoValue, the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $175.29 million in net outflows on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. BlackRock’s IBIT led the outflows with $91.37 million exiting the fund.

Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC followed with more modest outflows of $24.6 million and $17.1 million, respectively. The remaining ETFs saw a combined outflow of $42.1 million. Notably, none of the BTC ETFs managed to draw in inflows on the day.

Wednesday’s withdrawals extended the outflow trend to five straight trading days, during which over $825 million flowed out of the funds. So far this month, nearly $804.33 million has flowed out, and could likely extend to over a billion if institutional demand for them continues to weaken.

However, as of press time, the December numbers still pale in comparison to the $3.5 billion in outflows recorded in November.

Market analysts believe that the ETFs’ weak performance is most likely tied to the festive season of Christmas and would most likely improve once it ends.

Investors may also be turning cautious as they prepare for the expiry of roughly $23.6 billion in Bitcoin contracts on Deribit tomorrow, Dec. 26. It marks one of the largest expiries in the exchange’s history.

Meanwhile, well-followed analyst Ted Pillows highlighted that the U.S. has now become the biggest seller of Bitcoin, a stark contrast to the Asian market, which continues to buy the world’s leading crypto asset.

“Most of the selling is due to tax-loss harvesting, which means it will be over in a week,” fellow market expert Alek Carter wrote in a separate post on X.

Bitcoin (BTC) price recently fell from its local high of $90,168 to $87,152 on Tuesday and has since traded sideways between $86,000 and $88,000. When writing, it was changing hands at $87,750, and remains nearly 30.4% below its all-time high reached in October.

From a technical perspective, Bitcoin continues to trade below its 50-day SMA, signaling bearish short-term momentum. This outlook is reinforced by the MACD, which shows the buying pressure is fading as the MACD line remains pinned below the signal line.

On top of that, Bitcoin is nearing a breakdown from a bearish flag pattern on the daily chart. This technical formation typically precedes a period of sustained downside in the short term.

For now, traders are watching $85,200, which has acted as a strong demand zone throughout this month. A break below this level could lead to a drop toward the Nov. 21 low of $80,757.