US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a net outflow of about $643 million on Friday 30 October, led by BlackRock’s IBIT at −$234 million and Fidelity’s FBTC at −$201 million, according to figures from Rootdata relayed by ChainCatcher (KuCoin News). The outflow, the day after the Binance incident became public and as the Nasdaq had its worst day since June, ended a four-day streak of inflows. The same week brought Strategy’s third-quarter results, which show a record $19.53 billion of net income built on bitcoin’s price at 30 September, and a value for its holdings that has since slipped close to what it paid.
The week in ETF flows
| Date (2026) | Net flow, all spot bitcoin ETFs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 26 Oct | +$110.3M | Farside Investors, via cryptonews.net |
| Tue 27 Oct | +$176.0M | Farside; IBIT +$151.5M, FBTC +$24.5M per our earlier update |
| Wed 28 Oct | +$137.3M | Farside figure (SoSoValue showed $1.3M; see below) |
| Thu 29 Oct | +$17.2M | KuCoin News / blockchain.news flash reports |
| Fri 30 Oct | −$643M (approx.) | IBIT −$234M, FBTC −$201M (Rootdata); ex-IBIT −$409.5M (Farside, provisional) |
| Week, Mon–Fri | about −$203M | Our sum: +$440.8M minus $643.5M |
The Friday figure has two sources that look different but fit together. Farside Investors’ provisional table, as reported by cryptonews.net, showed a total of −$409.5 million before IBIT had reported, made up of FBTC −$201.0 million, ARKB −$129.5 million, GBTC −$53.3 million and BITB −$25.7 million (cryptonews.net). Adding Rootdata’s IBIT figure of −$234 million gives −$643.5 million, matching the −$643 million headline. We did not see Farside’s final table, so treat the total as approximate until a provider publishes the complete day. The four inflow days that preceded it, by Farside’s numbers, add up to $440.8 million, of which IBIT supplied $410.6 million (cryptonews.net), so for the full Monday-to-Friday week the sum is about −$203 million. That resolves the Wednesday discrepancy we flagged in the previous update: Farside’s $137.3 million is the figure that reconciles with the weekly total, while SoSoValue’s $1.3 million, which in our earlier update covered a single fund (BITB), looks like an incomplete day.
For scale, IBIT’s cumulative net inflow since launch stood at $66.341 billion and FBTC’s at $10.178 billion after Friday (Rootdata via ChainCatcher). One outflow day of this size is within the normal range of daily noise for these funds; our Field Guide #63 explains why a single day, and a single fund, can dominate a headline. Ether funds moved the same way: cryptonews.net said they also had outflows on Friday and that October was their heaviest month of withdrawals in more than a year; it gave no exact figures, and neither do we.
Strategy: record profit, thin cushion
Strategy reported third-quarter net income of $19.53 billion, against $2.79 billion a year earlier, with diluted earnings of $44.75 a share and a $20.91 billion gain on digital assets, according to its SEC filing (StockTitan; Strategy press release). Revenue was $125.4 million, down 3%. The filing reports the gain as one line and does not split realized from unrealized; with bitcoin carried at fair value, the quarter’s profit is mostly a mark-to-market effect of bitcoin’s rise to 30 September, which is our reading rather than a company statement. The company held about 848,517 bitcoin as of 25 October at a cost of $64.02 billion, or about $75,446 per coin, and it reported $5.07 billion of USD assets (a $4.83 billion USD reserve plus cash) that it says cover about 3.4 years of preferred dividends and interest. It said it sold about $431.8 million of bitcoin this year to fund preferred dividends and share buybacks, and repurchased 20,980,508 STRC shares for about $2.04 billion (SEC filing via StockTitan).
Now compare cost with price. At Coinbase’s 77,236.32 at 07:04 UTC on Saturday, 848,517 bitcoin are worth about $65.5 billion, only about $1.5 billion, or 2.4%, above the $64.02 billion cost basis (our arithmetic). The filing valued the holdings at $68.90 billion at about $81,200 on 23 October. A move of the same size as October’s 7.6% drop, if it persisted to 31 December, would imply a fourth-quarter mark-to-market loss of roughly $5 billion on the current holdings (our illustration: 848,517 coins times the difference between the 30 September Yahoo Finance close of 83,553.85 and the current price; the actual figure depends on year-end price and purchases). Michael Saylor said on the call that “we’re at the beginning of the next bull market”, CryptoPotato reported (CryptoPotato); the same article said CFO Andrew Kang steps down on 5 November for personal reasons, and that the company appears to have paused bitcoin purchases while repurchasing STRC. Our Field Guide #60 covers how to tell a business from a bitcoin fund, which matters ahead of MSCI’s 11 November decision.
Video: the full Strategy third-quarter 2026 earnings call, published 29 October 2026 by the company’s channel.
Video: Bitcoin Magazine’s edit of the analyst question-and-answer session, published 30 October 2026.
One more product launch: Franklin Templeton’s bitcoin DRIP ETFs
Franklin Templeton began trading two exchange-traded funds on 29 October that reinvest stock dividends into bitcoin: the Franklin U.S. Equity Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (FBEQ) and the Franklin U.S. Innovation Bitcoin DRIP Index ETF (FIBT). FBEQ tracks the 500 largest US companies, starts with 95% stocks and 5% bitcoin, and reinvests each dividend into bitcoin at the next open after the ex-date; its expense ratio is 0.09% (Bitcoin Magazine). It is another sign of how many ways bitcoin exposure now reaches ordinary portfolios, though a 5% allocation makes the funds a small direct source of demand.
What to watch
- Monday 2 November: the first full ETF table after the outflow, and whether outflows continue as Binance reopens withdrawals and publishes its reserves report (Field Guide #71).
- Strategy’s next weekly purchase filing, to see whether the pause in buying continues.
- Whether providers agree: Farside, SoSoValue and Rootdata sometimes differ on a given day, so cite a source and date for every flow figure.
Sources: KuCoin News (Rootdata/ChainCatcher), cryptonews.net (Farside), StockTitan: Strategy 8-K, Strategy, CryptoPotato, Bitcoin Magazine.
Method: bitcoin prices, highs, lows and closes are Coinbase Exchange candles (UTC day or UTC hour) pulled by Bitcoin Mastery at about 07:05 UTC on Saturday 31 October 2026; the 31 October candle is still open at that time, so any daily close quoted is the 30 October close (77,180.42) unless stated. Index, gold and monthly figures are Yahoo Finance daily closes (US cash-session closes for the Nasdaq Composite, Friday 30 October). Third-party figures are attributed to their source and date. ETF flow data are provider-specific and often revised; the Friday figure combines two providers as explained above.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are volatile and you can lose some or all of the money you put in. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold bitcoin, any exchange-traded fund, any listed security or any other asset, and the technical levels, probabilities and scenarios discussed are descriptions of published data, not forecasts. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.