Ethereum ETF outflows have crossed $1 billion for October 2026 – and roughly nine out of every ten dollars leaving US spot ether funds came from a single product: BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, ETHA.
Depending on the data provider and cut-off, the month-to-date drain ranges from about $1.01 billion (Farside Investors, Oct 2-21, via Yahoo Finance) to more than $1 billion through Oct 22 (Farside via CryptoSlate) to roughly $1.1 billion over the three weeks ending Oct 22-24 (SoSoValue). All three readings tell the same story: this is the largest monthly outflow of 2026 for spot Ethereum ETFs, and ETHA accounts for about 88-93% of it, with $954 million to $1.01 billion of the total.
October’s Ethereum ETF outflows, session by session
The bleeding was persistent rather than one dramatic day. Twelve of the fourteen sessions from Oct 2-21 were negative; only Oct 13 (~$25 million) and Oct 21 (~$15 million) printed inflows. Weekly, the damage split into a $542.1 million drawdown in the Oct 5-9 window, $320.1 million the following week (ETHA alone was 94% of that), and $388.9 million across five consecutive outflow sessions through Oct 20. The Oct 19-22 stretch shed $225 million overall, with ETHA down $233 million – meaning other ether funds actually netted slight inflows around it.
Oct 21 briefly broke the streak: Morgan Stanley’s MSSE added $28.1 million and Fidelity’s FETH $13.0 million while ETHA still fell $29.3 million. Oct 22 resumed the outflow at $111 million, and the preliminary Oct 23 reading turned positive again.
Why the money is leaving ether funds
Three explanations dominate the coverage: competition from staking-focused ETH ETFs that actually yield; price weakness in ETH itself, which lost roughly 15% of its market capitalization – about $54 billion – in under three weeks; and delays to Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade souring the narrative. Our own October tracking of single-session outflows across all four major funds shows the pattern predates this month’s totals.
Bitcoin funds ran the opposite direction
The uncomfortable contrast for ether bulls: over Oct 19-21, US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in more than $1.075 billion and pushed October net-positive for BTC – while ether funds stayed negative over the same window. BTC was deep in outflow territory earlier in the month before the reversal; ETH has not had one. The divergence matters because it suggests rotation out of ether products rather than a broad risk-off exit.
Two caveats before the month closes: October’s final tally is not settled, and Farside’s daily method and SoSoValue’s weekly aggregation do not reconcile to the dollar – hence the $1.01-1.1 billion range rather than a single number. Ether funds also shed $138 million in an early-October weekly print, so the trend is not new, only accelerating.
