TL;DR
- Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs registered combined losses exceeding $1.1 billion in a single day.
- Canary Capital’s XRP ETF (XRPC) debuted with a record volume of $58 million, surpassing all expectations.
- Bitcoin’s price drop below $97,000 reflects risk aversion amidst economic uncertainty.
Extreme contrast marked this Thursday’s session in the digital asset market; in fact, it was undoubtedly one of the most volatile and revealing days of 2025. Proof of this is that Bitcoin and Ethereum suffered one of their worst sessions in history, but a new protagonist emerged forcefully, shaking up crypto ETFs.
The data is revealing; according to figures from Farside Investors, the 11 Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of at least $867 million, the second-highest figure in their months of history. In parallel, Ethereum funds were also in the red, losing $260 million.
An unstable macroeconomic and political environment in the United States was the trigger for the massive capital exodus. This context has led investors to flee risk assets, dragging the price of Bitcoin below $97,000, a 20% drop from its October highs.
The Rise of XRP and Market Divergence
The new protagonist, shining with its own light amidst a gloomy scenario, was the debut of Canary Capital’s spot XRP ETF (XRPC). Against all odds and defying the general bearish trend, this fund registered a trading volume of $58 million on its first day, setting a new record for any ETF launched in 2025.
Considering that projections from experts like Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas placed the expected volume at just $17 million, it was undoubtedly a debut that defied forecasts.
XRPC’s success not only exceeded expectations but also displaced the year’s previous leader, the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), which had debuted with $57 million. This disparity in cryptocurrency ETF flows underscores a curious shift in institutional appetite: while interest in established products like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) cools off—losing over $1 billion in the last two weeks—capital seems to be seeking new opportunities in altcoins with differentiated value propositions or entry prices perceived as more attractive.
The situation of the Solana fund (BSOL) serves as an interesting counterpoint. Although it has accumulated over $550 million in net inflows since its launch, during this “Black Thursday” it barely managed to capture $1.5 million, evidencing how liquidity moved selectively toward the novelty of XRP.
This behavior suggests that, although the general market is contracting due to macroeconomic fear, there are niches of speculation and pent-up demand that remain active and willing to mobilize large sums of capital when novel regulated products appear.
