U.S. spot crypto ETFs recorded more than $540 million in net outflows on Thursday as bitcoin and broader markets reversed their initial gains following the U.S. midterm elections, according to The Block’s November 6, 2026 report. Combined net outflows across major U.S. crypto ETFs exceeded $1.1 billion for the week to that point.
The withdrawals coincided with a sharp retreat across crypto and equities. Bitcoin fell 5.6% on Thursday, more than erasing Wednesday’s initial 4% gain following Tuesday’s election. Ether dropped 7.8%, while the GMCI 30 index, which tracks a selection of 30 leading cryptocurrencies, lost 6.4%.
Fidelity leads bitcoin ETF withdrawals
Data compiled by The Block showed the largest bitcoin ETF outflows came from:
- Fidelity’s FBTC: $199.9 million.
- BlackRock’s IBIT: $105 million.
- Grayscale’s GBTC: $49.9 million.
Franklin Templeton’s EZBC, VanEck’s HODL and Ark Invest’s ARKB also recorded net withdrawals. The remaining bitcoin ETFs posted zero flows.
Ethereum funds also saw redemptions, including BlackRock’s ETHA and ETHB, Fidelity’s FETH and Grayscale’s ETHE. The source contains an unresolved numerical inconsistency: it lists ETHA and ETHB outflows as $75.2 billion and $22 billion, respectively—figures incompatible with its stated aggregate totals. Those individual amounts cannot be reconciled from the supplied article.
According to SoSoValue data cited in the report, U.S. Solana ETFs recorded combined net outflows of $1.2 million, Zcash ETFs lost $11 million and Hyperliquid ETFs lost $3 million. XRP ETFs posted zero flows.
A broader retreat from technology risk
The selloff extended well beyond crypto. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5%, and the S&P 500 dropped 4.4%.
The Block reported that investors were weighing potential restrictions on AI infrastructure development after Democrats swept both the House and Senate. Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, said the election result added political and regulatory concerns to existing doubts about technology valuations and infrastructure spending.
“The regulatory and political risks arise at a time when the proverbial AI trade was already on shakier foundations,” Rodda said, citing disappointing earnings and signs of slowing AI spending.
Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG, told The Block that bitcoin had been “dragged into the AI rout as investors rapidly unwind risk across technology and crypto markets.” He attributed bitcoin’s exposure to its correlation with technology stocks and said more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions had been liquidated over 24 hours.
These were the analysts’ explanations for the reversal. The simultaneous ETF withdrawals and price declines do not, by themselves, establish which drove the other.
Jobs data and monetary policy remained the next uncertainty
At the time of publication, Friday’s U.S. jobs report was still ahead. Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, said economists expected around 60,000–65,000 new jobs. She warned that stronger hiring, especially alongside higher wage growth, could lift Treasury yields and the dollar and give the Federal Reserve more reason to raise rates.
André Dragosch, Bitwise’s head of research for Europe, offered a different outlook. He expected bitcoin to outperform U.S. equities as the AI trade unwound, arguing that bitcoin had become more sensitive to the dollar and monetary-policy expectations than to economic growth. In his view, it could decouple from stocks if financial conditions improved—a conditional forecast, not an established outcome.
Original reporting published November 6, 2026, at 20:32:29 UTC+08:00. Read the original article at The Block.