Some analysts have suggested that investors are selling Bitcoin to free up liquidity for upcoming IPOs such as SpaceX and Anthropic, but Sygnum CIO Fabian Dori says the available market data does not support that interpretation.

Bitcoin ETFs have seen roughly $5.75 billion in outflows since mid-May, sparking speculation that institutional investors are reducing crypto exposure ahead of a wave of high-profile listings beginning with SpaceX.

That selling pressure helped push Bitcoin below $60,000 in early June—its weakest level since 2026—and more than 50% below its peak near $125,000 reached last October. The decline has been widely linked to a potential rotation of capital from crypto into IPO-related allocations.

Dori, however, rejects that explanation.

“The ETF outflows are real,” he told CoinDesk, “but the data does not support the idea that Bitcoin is declining because of the SpaceX IPO.”

He argues that if investors were actively liquidating Bitcoin to fund IPO participation, on-chain exchange flows would likely show abnormal withdrawals, and stablecoin supply would be shrinking as capital exited the crypto ecosystem. Neither trend is currently evident.

Exchange activity remains broadly steady, while stablecoin market capitalization has shown little contraction. At the same time, more speculative areas of crypto continue to attract inflows, which Dori says would be unlikely if investors were broadly exiting the sector.

He points instead to derivatives data as a stronger signal.

According to Dori, falling CME Bitcoin futures open interest alongside ETF redemptions suggests that much of the selling is tied to unwinding cash-and-carry arbitrage positions rather than a shift into equities.

The cash-and-carry strategy involves buying spot Bitcoin—often through ETFs—while shorting futures to capture the price gap between the two markets. When that spread tightens or funding conditions deteriorate, the trade is unwound, leading to ETF outflows even without bearish conviction.

“Open interest and funding rates moved very positively together over the same period,” Dori said, adding that this pattern is consistent with the unwinding of carry trades rather than a wholesale exit from Bitcoin exposure.