US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Hit Record Week, Adding $2.1 Billion in BTC

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies see notable gains, boosted by record inflows into Spot Bitcoin ETFs totalling over US$2.1 billion last week.
BlackRock’s IBIT stands out, contributing more than half of the inflows.
Monday recorded the highest daily inflow for the ETFs, with significant contributions from Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB.
The rapid growth of Bitcoin ETFs outpaces that of gold, achieving milestones in 10 months that took gold ETFs five years.

The crypto market is making good gains, with Bitcoin and others in the green over the weekend. The rally comes as Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are seeing record-breaking inflows over the last trading week.

From 14 to 18 October alone, these funds have seen over US$2.1 billion (AU$3.1 billion) in combined inflows.

Related: Global X Report: Crypto Pushed Australian ETF Market to New Highs

The chart below shows the strong trading week, which stands out from past performance. In addition to the increased inflows, the outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC (in red) are clearly visible up until April/May 2024, when they started to slow down.

Spot BTC ETF flows, source: The Block/BiTBO

Funds Inch Closer to 1 Million Bitcoin Combined

The strongest performer was once again BlackRock’s IBIT, hardly a surprise. IBIT added US$1.14 billion (AU$1.69 billion) to its holdings, more than half of all funds.

IBIT now holds 386,614.8 Bitcoin, around a third of all US funds combined – which hold a collective 958,450 BTC. That means all funds together hold 4.56% of the total 21 million BTC, a massive US$66.3 billion (AU$98.65 billion) in assets under management (AUM).

And while IBIT had the largest net inflows overall, Monday, 14 October, was the biggest day of the week for the funds as a group.

That day, Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB both outperformed IBIT, pushing the total daily net inflows to US$555.9 million (AU$827 million) – that’s 8,300 Bitcoin!

Bitcoin ETF flows, source: farside.uk.co

It Took Bitcoin Ten Months to Do What Gold Did in 5 Years

Interesting side note to all this: the launch of these funds is probably one of the most successful in ETF history, if not the most successful. Take Gold for example, which Bitcoin is often compared to. It took Gold ETFs five years to break the US$20 billion inflow mark.

The Bitcoin funds did that in just 10 months.

Gold vs. Bitcoin ETF inflows, source: Bitwise

With retail investors just starting to re-enter the market, these inflows are largely driven by institutional demand – think US pension funds and financial advisors recommending the funds to their high-net clients.

Related: Analysts Think Uptober Top in for Bitcoin, Memecoin Supercycle Next?

Chief market officer at crypto trading platform VALR, Ben Caselin, commented:

The participation of financial advisors, pension funds, etc has been crucial for Bitcoin to achieve new price highs and potentially surpass gold as a prominent asset class showcasing its decoupling from traditional markets.