Bitcoin ETFs are hemorrhaging billions. Heres what investors awaiting a crypto turnaround should watch for.

Investors have pulled roughly $4.3 billion out of spot bitcoin ETFs in the past five weeks, according to Dow Jones Market Data

Demand for bitcoin remains lukewarm as its bear-market plunge continues.

Bitcoin has been unable to catch a break recently. After falling from the $90,000 level to $60,057 on Feb. 5, the cryptocurrency has been stuck in a range of $60,000 to $70,000 for the past two weeks.

And bitcoin (BTCUSD) investors arent expecting a rebound anytime soon.

The slump can be partly explained by the hemorrhaging among bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Since the start of 2026, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, such as iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF GBTC, have collectively seen $2.6 billion worth of outflows. This means bitcoin ETFs, which helped bring new investors into the crypto market when they launched, are this year putting downward pressure on the worlds largest cryptocurrency.

U.S.-based spot ETFs have sold a net of $2.6 billion so far in 2026. This contrasts with net buying of $4.3 billion in the same period of 2025. This is a $6.9 billion buying gap from 2025, Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, told MarketWatch.

By this time last year, bitcoin ETFs had added $4.3 billion to the crypto market. This year, theyre pulling liquidity away.

Institutional flows into bitcoin ETFs have weakened in 2026 as large investors look to de-risk their portfolios. A Sunday note from Wall Street institution Cantor Fitzgerald pointed out that bitcoin and ether ETFs have seen outflows for five consecutive weeks.

According to Dow Jones Market Data, roughly $4.3 billion flowed out of spot bitcoin ETFs during this five-week period, which is the longest stretch of outflows since the six weeks ending Nov. 21.

Rania Gule, a market analyst at XS.com, told MarketWatch that persistent selling is still dominating the overall price trend, even as buyers look for a rebound rally. Bitcoin is starting to verge on oversold territory, Gule said, but in the near term, bearish pressure is expected to last.

In the short term, market direction largely depends on how price behaves around the $65,000 zone, Gule told MarketWatch.

Bitcoin has been in a bear market for months, and there are a few market forces keeping the crypto lower right now. Since the start of the year, institutional investors have been rotating away from speculative, high-growth assets into other areas of the market, like defensive stock sectors and metals.

On top of that, global interest rates havent fallen as quickly as crypto investors had hoped, and the U.S. dollar DXY has strengthened from its lows last month. Add fresh tariff uncertainty to the mix, and this creates an environment where investors arent eager to invest more into a historically volatile asset.

Today, bitcoin is trading in the $64,000-$66,000 zone, and we believe macro factors are doing most of the work. Selling pressure is still tangible and heavy, so the asset has become highly sensitive to headlines, and recent turbulence around tariffs has put even more pressure on risk sentiment, Gracy Chen, chief executive of crypto exchange Bitget, wrote in an email.

Basically, Bitcoin is still priced as a rates-and-risk instrument, where even one inflation data release can trigger rapid de-risking, she added.

These macroeconomic forces arent expected to disappear overnight, so bitcoin will likely remain under pressure in the near future. However, bitcoins eventual rally will depend on institutions returning to the crypto, Dynamix chief executive Andrejka Bernatova told MarketWatch.

What ultimately breaks us out of this range is less the next macro data point and more continued institutional and real-economy adoption, especially as bitcoin continues to be an emerging store-of-value asset, she said.

Bernatova views bitcoins current bear market as a consolidation phase ahead of the next leg of a larger structural adoption story. This positions bitcoin as a more long-term play, but in her opinion, current bitcoin doom and gloom will look as dated as the early internet bubble calls.

Read: Bitcoins 50% plunge from highs hurts a little - but it isnt shaking these investors conviction

For investors who are hoping for a more immediate rebound, Gule said there are a few levels worth watching.

She highlighted $60,000 as a strong psychological and technical support level. Bitcoin saw a steep decline at the start of February, but the price rebounded after dropping below $60,100, showing that buyers were willing to step in. If bitcoin breaks below the $60,000 level, Gule said, it may continue to slip to the $57,500 level.

On the upside, Gule said investors should watch the $72,000 to $75,000 range, as a breakout above this level could indicate that a corrective rally is underway.

The broader bias remains bearish as long as price stays below $75,000. However, maintaining stability above $60,000 keeps the rebound scenario viable, she said. Risk management remains essential in this high-volatility environment.