Bitcoin exchange-traded funds — a favourite of baby boomer HODLers — saw almost half a billion dollars wiped from their holdings in one day as panic gripped investors.

On Monday, as US stock indexes plunged, investors pulled $430 million from US spot Bitcoin ETFs. Ark Invest’s Bitcoin ETF, called ARK 21Shares, led the exodus with $147 million in outflows, according to Coinglass.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan found that Fidelity suffered $135 million in outflows, while BlackRock’s IBIT faced $90 million in selling.

Ethereum ETFs were also hit. Investors dumped $34 million across Fidelity, Grayscale, and Bitwise products, according to a JPMorgan investor note on Tuesday.

Crypto’s wild swings have been driven by macroeconomic trends as Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies erode confidence in the US economy.

That has outweighed optimism surrounding Trump’s Friday summit, where he and industry bigwigs, including Michael Saylor, hyped cryptocurrencies as a key strategic US asset.

Bitcoin “remains susceptible to weakening macro support despite crypto-positive policy coming from the White House,” said JPMorgan analysts.

Since Trump began his on-again-off-again tariff policies in early February, the total value of crypto has dropped by $500 billion. And since his inauguration, the entire market has shed nearly 25%.

Now, the already beleaguered crypto ecosystem has recession fears to factor in.

Bitcoin strategic reserve

It’s not all bearish, however.

Washington is rife with positive crypto news.

On Tuesday, the White House held its first-ever crypto summit.

Trump has directed the creation of a strategic reserve of nearly 200,000 Bitcoin, or $16 billion, held by the US government. And Saylor wants to pile up to $21 billion more into his company Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings.

Meanwhile, both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs registered important upticks in their trading volume on March 10, according to JPMorgan analysts.

Bitcoin ETFs saw $5 billion in activity, nearly double its daily average of $2.7 billion since its January 11 launch.

Investors traded $662 million in Ethereum ETFs, up from a $338 million daily average.

To $70,000

Some experts are telling investors to brace for even further downside.

Although Bitcoin stabilised at $81,000 on Tuesday, it remains to be seen how long it will last.

Bitcoin is likely to reach as low as $69,000, said Mena Theodorou, co-founder at crypto exchange Coinstash, in a memo.

Maelstrom fund CIO Arthur Hayes also predicted a low of $70,000.

For jittery investors, Hayes shared some advice on X: “Be fucking patient.”

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.