U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $299.9 million in net outflows on Thursday, the fifth consecutive session of redemptions for the category. Bitcoin fell 0.7% over the same stretch. The withdrawals come as a boardroom fight at Nvidia added a fresh dose of risk-off pressure to equities and, by extension, crypto.
A five-day run of redemptions
The $299.9 million figure isn't a single-day anomaly. It's the fifth straight day of net outflows from the spot bitcoin ETF complex, a run that has now stretched across a full trading week. Each session has added to the total, and there's no sign yet of the buying that pulled money into these funds earlier in the year.
The outflows matter because spot ETFs have been one of the main channels for traditional investors to get bitcoin exposure. When the flows turn negative for several days in a row, it tends to show up in spot prices, and this week it did: bitcoin is down 0.7%.
Nvidia's board fight spills into risk assets
The bigger story Thursday may be Nvidia. Reports that the chipmaker's board may move to oust CEO Jensen Huang sent Nvidia shares lower. Nvidia has become the bellwether for the AI trade, and when its stock wobbles, the ripple tends to reach crypto — bitcoin has traded in step with tech equities for much of the past two years.
That connection isn't mechanical, but it's real. A boardroom fight at the most important AI chip company is exactly the kind of headline that makes portfolio managers trim risk across the board, and bitcoin ETFs are an easy place to do it.
What investors are watching
The immediate question is whether the outflow streak breaks on Friday or rolls into next week. Five days is a trend; six starts to look like a regime. The other variable is Nvidia: if the board situation resolves quickly, equities could stabilize and take some pressure off crypto. If it drags, the ETF flows probably keep bleeding.
For now, the numbers are what they are. Bitcoin is down 0.7%, spot ETFs have lost $299.9 million in a day and more than that over the week, and Nvidia's leadership mess is doing the rest of the damage.
Friday's ETF flow data will be the first real test of whether this is a short pause or something longer. Nvidia's board hasn't acted yet — the reports say it may — and until it does, the uncertainty is likely to keep weighing on risk assets, bitcoin included.
