Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead $1.17B Investment Exodus Amid Post-Liquidity Shock

Digital asset funds recorded a second straight week of heavy outflows, with investors pulling US$1.17 billion from crypto investment products as markets continued to digest the fallout from the October 10 liquidity cascade and growing uncertainty around whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut rates in December. The latest weekly update from CoinShares paints a market still split between caution in the United States and pockets of appetite for riskier tokens in Europe and elsewhere.

The pain was concentrated in the two largest tokens. Bitcoin bore the brunt, with outflows of US$932 million, while Ethereum saw US$438 million leave funds over the week. Short-bitcoin exchange-traded products actually attracted fresh money, US$11.8 million in inflows, marking the largest weekly demand for inverse exposure since May 2025, according to CoinShares. Trading in crypto ETPs stayed brisk, with volumes around US$43 billion for the reporting week, as traders repeatedly rotated between hope and caution amid headlines about Washington and the macro backdrop.

Price action this Monday reflected those uneasy flows. Bitcoin was trading just above US$106,000, having bounced from a brief slide below US$100,000 earlier in the month, while Ethereum hovered around US$3,600. Market commentators pointed to a mix of technical selling, leveraged liquidations and macro-driven rotation into traditional safe havens as drivers of the recent volatility. BTC and ETH are reclaiming small gains on November 10 after last week’s swings, but analysts warn that clear catalysts will be needed for a sustained lift.

But if Bitcoin and Ether were the headlines, the altcoin space told a different story. Solana continued to attract flows, taking in US$118 million in the week and roughly US$2.1 billion over the past nine weeks, proof that investor interest remains heterogeneous across the market. Solana’s price has reflected that enthusiasm, trading in the mid-hundreds of dollars this morning and showing resilience versus the large-cap slump that drove the recent outflows from bitcoin products. Other smaller tokens also saw notable inflows: Hedera’s HBAR pulled in roughly US$26.8 million and Hyperliquid recorded US$4.2 million, according to the CoinShares breakdown.

Regional patterns were stark. U.S.-listed products experienced US$1.22 billion in outflows, by far the largest hit, while Germany and Switzerland bucked the trend with modest inflows of US$41.3 million and US$49.7 million, respectively. The divergence underlines how geopolitical and regulatory perceptions, as well as local investor profiles, can shape where capital lands even within the same asset classes. CoinShares also noted a brief, intraday recovery in flows on Thursday when investors cheered signs that progress was being made to resolve the U.S. government shutdown, but that optimism faded and outflows re-emerged on Friday.

What Does this Mean for the Market?

In the near term, headline risk is likely to dominate. The interplay between U.S. political developments, the partial resolution of the shutdown may have relieved some immediate pressure, and the Fed’s communications on a potential December rate cut will probably steer flows and risk appetite. Analysts have shared divergent outlooks for ETH and other assets in recent months, showing how sensitive markets are to macro assumptions and ETF flows. For traders, technical levels around the four- and five-figure marks for BTC and the US$3,000–US$4,500 band for ETH remain important focal points.

For institutional and retail allocators, the latest data is a reminder that crypto is no longer a single, monolithic bet. While institutional money rotated out of the largest, most liquid tokens last week, risk-tolerant investors continued to put fresh capital into selective altcoins, Solana’s run being the clearest example. Whether those flows translate into a broader market recovery will depend on the next sequence of macro prints, regulatory headlines and whether the market can shrug off the aftershocks of October’s liquidity cascade.

As always in these choppy markets, the short-term picture looks messy: elevated volumes, rapid reallocations, and a patchwork of winners and losers. But the story behind the numbers is instructive; capital is still willing to chase yield and narrative when it finds it, even as the larger tides of macro uncertainty pull money back into safer corners. For now, investors will be watching Washington, central-bank signals and the next weekly flows to judge whether last week’s selling was a corrective pause or the start of a deeper risk-off phase.