# Bitcoin ETFs Shed $681 Million as Strategy Slows Weekly Buying

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/32241
Published: 2026-10-15T03:37:23.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-15T03:37:23.000Z
Section: Investing

> Strategy purchased 250 BTC from Oct. 5-11 and spent $192.4 million repurchasing STRC preferred stock.

Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded above $83,000 after briefly falling below $81,000 on Oct. 13, even as U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded heavy weekly outflows and Strategy reduced its purchases.

The funds saw $681 million in net outflows from Oct. 5-9, their largest weekly withdrawal since June. Fidelity’s FBTC had the biggest outflow, at about $380 million. During the same period, Bitcoin traded in a range of roughly $83,000 to $84,000, despite the money leaving the funds.

ETF redemptions can require funds to sell Bitcoin from their holdings, so weekly flow figures provide a view of spot demand separate from futures trading. The outflows covered Oct. 5-9; the later price rebound does not show that the weekly trend had reversed.

About $800 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the 24 hours around Oct. 13, with long positions—bets on rising prices—making up about 86% of the total. Open interest, or the total value of outstanding futures contracts, also declined. Together, the figures point to leveraged positions being closed, while short covering helped lift Bitcoin after it fell below $81,000. They do not confirm that institutional buyers had returned to the spot market.

Strategy bought 250 Bitcoin from Oct. 5-11 at an average price of $86,194, spending about $21.5 million. The purchase was among the company’s smallest weekly buys of the year. In the same period, Strategy spent about $192.4 million repurchasing its STRC preferred stock, almost nine times its Bitcoin outlay.

The next potential pressure point is an MSCI decision expected by Oct. 16. The index provider is reviewing how to screen companies whose assets are mainly financial holdings. Strategy and Metaplanet could be affected. If either company is removed from relevant indexes, funds that track them would need to adjust their holdings; any index-related selling would wait until an adjustment in November.