Bitcoin ETFs See First Outflows of 2026 After Explosive Start

These outlaws happened after a strong $1.16 billion inflow to start the year. While funds like Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC led the outflows, BlackRock’s IBIT continued to attract capital, even as Bitcoin consolidated near $92,000. Elsewhere in the Bitcoin ecosystem, miner and hardware maker Canaan launched a Canadian pilot project that repurposes waste heat from Bitcoin mining to support greenhouse agriculture, reflecting the industry’s growing focus on efficiency, renewable energy, and cost reduction as mining difficulty reaches record highs.

Bitcoin ETF Flows Turn Negative

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) swung back to net outflows on Tuesday, ending a strong start to 2026 that saw more than $1.16 billion flow into the products over the first two trading days of the year. Data from Farside Investors shows that Bitcoin ETFs recorded $243 million in net outflows on the day, the first negative session for aggregate flows in 2026.

The pullback was largely driven by Fidelity’s FBTC, which saw $312.24 million leave the fund. Grayscale’s GBTC posted $83.07 million in outflows, while its Bitcoin Mini Trust recorded an additional $32.73 million in redemptions. Products from Ark & 21Shares and VanEck also reported net outflows.

Bitcoin ETF flows (Source: Farside Investors)

These exits were partially offset by strength in BlackRock’s IBIT, which attracted $228.66 million in net inflows on Tuesday and stood out as the only spot Bitcoin ETF to post positive flows that day. Over the first three trading days of 2026, IBIT has accumulated roughly $888 million in net inflows.

People were quick to downplay concerns that the outflows signal a shift in sentiment. Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research, said the moves look more like post-inflow normalization rather than a broader risk-off event, and argued that institutions are rebalancing exposure rather than abandoning their Bitcoin convictions. He added that Bitcoin’s price resilience supports this view, as the asset appears to be consolidating rather than capitulating.

BTC’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinCodex)

At press time, Bitcoin was trading close to $92,334, down about 1.25% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinCodex. Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, described the outflows as a modest and healthy pullback driven by profit-taking and portfolio rebalancing after strong inflows.

While Bitcoin ETFs cooled, capital appeared to rotate elsewhere in the market. Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $114.7 million in net inflows despite outflows from Grayscale and Fidelity products. XRP and Solana ETFs also saw net inflows of $19 million and $9 million, respectively. 

Canaan Recycles Bitcoin Mining Heat

In other Bitcoin-related news, Bitcoin mining hardware maker and miner Canaan is continuing its push to repurpose energy from computing infrastructure by launching a heat recovery pilot to support greenhouse agriculture in Canada. In a notice that was released on  Tuesday, the company said it will participate in a 3-megawatt proof-of-concept with Bitforest Investment in Manitoba, where waste heat from Bitcoin mining equipment will be reused to supplement greenhouse operations.

Announcement from Canaan

The project will run for an initial 24 months and will use Canaan’s liquid-cooled Avalon computing systems to capture heat generated by mining servers. That heat will then be used to preheat water intake for Bitforest’s greenhouses, lowering overall energy requirements and reducing reliance on fossil-fuel boilers. According to Bitforest, its Manitoba operations currently focus on tomato production, making consistent heat supply particularly important in colder climates.

Canaan chair and CEO Nangeng Zhang said the pilot is designed to be more than a one-off deployment, and described it as a data-driven and replicable model for integrating computing infrastructure with energy-intensive industries. Zhang said the company plans to measure, model, and eventually scale heat recovery systems for agricultural use, while also advancing broader efforts to improve energy sustainability for households, businesses, and industrial partners. The project will deploy a computing system consisting of 360 liquid-cooled servers, with heat that would normally be vented instead recycled into productive use.

The initiative forms part of a trend among Bitcoin miners seeking to reduce costs and improve efficiency as mining difficulty rises. Canaan itself launched a mining facility at a wind-powered site in Texas in September. Digital infrastructure firm Phoenix Group also announced a 30-MW hydroelectric-powered mining facility in Ethiopia, while Sangha Renewables launched a 20-MW solar-powered operation in Texas.

Rising mining difficulty intensified the search for efficiency gains. After climbing sharply in 2025 and reaching record highs, difficulty is expected to surge again this month. Data from CoinWarz shows Bitcoin mining difficulty stood at roughly 148.2 trillion at press time, which is likely why miners are turning to renewable energy and waste-heat recovery solutions.