The decline of cryptocurrencies in February led to record capital outflows from U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. How experts assessed the state of the market and the forecasts they made are reported by RBC Crypto.
The overall decline in the cryptocurrency market capitalization could result in February 2025 being the worst month for Bitcoin’s price since 2014. For the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, it could be the worst since 2018. Richard Teng, CEO of the largest crypto exchange Binance, stated that this is merely a “short-term retreat.”
A group of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, including funds from BlackRock and Fidelity, recorded the largest net outflow of funds for the trading session on February 25—over $1 billion. The combined assets under management of all such funds totaled $101.5 billion, according to Sosovalue data from February 26. This marks the sixth consecutive trading day of net outflows—totaling more than $2 billion since February 18.
Net outflow refers to the difference between the volume of redeemed and issued ETF shares. If outflows exceed inflows, the funds sell Bitcoin to cover withdrawal requests. U.S. spot ETFs provide investors legal access to cryptocurrencies via NASDAQ and NYSE in the form of stocks. Issuing new shares requires the actual delivery of Bitcoin by the funds, which has provided significant capital inflows to the crypto market and driven its growth in 2024.
The outflow on February 25 was the largest since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and exceeded the total capital inflow for the week of January 13–17, after which Bitcoin hit a historic high above $109,000. The previous record for capital outflows was observed on December 19 at $680 million.
Outflows for Ethereum-based ETFs were smaller than Bitcoin’s: on February 25, funds recorded about $50 million in outflows, marking the fourth consecutive day of negative values, totaling $150 million. The total capital under management in Ethereum ETFs was $9.3 billion.
This happened against the backdrop of the cryptocurrency market’s decline on February 25, which temporarily brought digital asset prices back to levels last seen in mid-November of the previous year. For example, Bitcoin’s price fell to $86,500, and Ethereum (ETH) to $2,340. According to Coinmarketcap data from February 26, 13:30 MSK, Bitcoin’s price returned to $89,000, and ETH to $2,500.
February may become the worst February ever for Ethereum’s price. Of the nine reporting years, ETH only lost value in February in 2018, when the price dropped by 24%. In February 2025, according to Coinglass, this decline exceeds the 2018 level by 1%. For Bitcoin, this February could be the worst since 2014, when the price of the leading cryptocurrency fell by 31%.
Temporary Correction
Commenting on the market’s decline on February 25, Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, called the situation a “short-term tactical retreat.” He also noted that institutional interest continues to grow, and inflows into ETFs remain strong. Teng’s statement came amidst the record outflows from Bitcoin-based ETFs.
“It’s true that market pullbacks can feel worrying. But these are moments when experienced investors prepare for the next upward trend. Cryptocurrency has become an asset class integrated into global finance. Its ability to recover after macroeconomic downturns has been proven,” Teng wrote.
However, experts at Glassnode expressed doubts about the market’s resilience, speculating based on their own metrics that “the strength of sellers has not yet been exhausted,” and further correction may be possible.
Another company specializing in on-chain cryptocurrency market analytics, CryptoQuant, noted record daily Bitcoin movements by short-term holders since 2023—over 79,000 BTC, or about $7 billion as of February 26.
On-chain analysis is a specialized method of studying market trends based on public blockchain data. Using this information, experts try to predict prices and investor behavior. Glassnode and CryptoQuant are among the most well-known analytical firms in the cryptocurrency field. Short-term holders refer to Bitcoins that have not moved for five months. It is assumed that this group of investors is most prone to emotional decisions during market stress.
“This is the largest Bitcoin sell-off of 2025,” said CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler, adding that in these conditions, according to on-chain analysis, the $80,000 level represents a strong support zone.