US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds closed the first quarter of 2026 with net outflows, even as the category managed to attract fresh capital in March. According to data from SoSoValue, spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.32 billion in March, marking the first monthly inflow of 2026 and the first since October 2025. That gain, however, was not sufficient to counterbalance earlier redemptions recorded in the opening months of the year.
Outflows of $1.61 billion in January and $207 million in February left the category with approximately $500 million in net outflows across the full quarter. The losses coincided with a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price, which fell more than 22% during Q1, according to CoinGlass. That marked a second consecutive quarterly drop for the asset, following a 23% decline in Q4 2025.
Investor sentiment remained cautious for much of the quarter, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index hovering below 20 for most of March, a level associated with extreme fear in the market. Despite this backdrop, the category still managed to register monthly inflows, a development some analysts attributed to the relative resilience of crypto investment products. Rising geopolitical tensions linked to the Middle East conflict were cited as a factor weighing on broader market confidence.
Monthly trading volumes in spot Bitcoin ETFs also softened, coming in at around $79 billion in March compared with $93 billion in February and $87 billion in January. By the end of the quarter, cumulative inflows into the category had reached approximately $56 billion. Total assets under management stood at roughly $87.5 billion at quarter’s end.
Spot Ether ETFs fared worse than their Bitcoin counterparts, closing March with $46 million in net monthly outflows. Over the full quarter, Ether recorded the largest losses among spot crypto ETFs, with three consecutive months of outflows totaling $769 million. The figures underscored the degree to which negative sentiment weighed more heavily on Ether-focused products during the period.
XRP ETFs also experienced outflows in March, totaling around $31 million, though quarterly net flows for the category remained positive at approximately $43 million. Solana ETFs stood out as a relative bright spot, recording consecutive months of inflows throughout the quarter for a cumulative total of $213 million. The funds have not posted a month of outflows since their launch in October 2025, as of the end of March 2026.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
