Analysis: The significant net outflow of BTC spot ETFs from May to July reflects the absence of institutional buying, and the market may have entered the clearing tail end

On-chain data analyst Murphy stated that this cycle is significantly different from the past due to the influx of traditional institutional funds brought in by the BTC spot ETF. He pointed out that the net flow of the ETF essentially records the subscription and redemption results of authorized participants (AP) in the primary market. It will only translate into net inflows or outflows in the data when the selling pressure in the secondary market continues to push the ETF price away from its net asset value and exceeds the arbitrage cost line.

Murphy analyzed the data from glassnode and noted that from January to February, the market showed "high trading volume + slight net outflow," indicating that although there was obvious panic selling at that time, there was still a large amount of buying support. In contrast, from May to July, the market exhibited "low trading volume + significant net outflow." The more core signal was not a significant increase in selling pressure, but rather the absence of marginal buying, leading to the ETF consistently trading at a discount and resulting in AP redemptions.

He believes that this stage is more likely to reflect a second round of "surrender" at the institutional level, which typically belongs to the tail-end clearing pattern of the market, and judges that this may provide new layout opportunities for retail investors, although the duration cannot be clearly determined by the current data.