On Friday, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a significant surge in inflows, with net purchases hitting $263 million, marking the largest single-day inflow since July 22. This influx of capital comes amid a 12% rise in Bitcoin’s price over the past week, with the cryptocurrency surpassing the $60,000 mark.
Fidelity Leads ETF Inflows Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) led the charge, drawing in $102 million on Friday alone, bringing its total weekly inflows to $218 million. This strong recovery followed two weeks of negative performance, during which $467 million exited the fund.
Other major inflows were seen by ARK Invest and 21Shares’ Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), which garnered approximately $99 million in net purchases. The broad trend of renewed interest in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs was also reflected in funds managed by companies such as Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, VanEck, and Grayscale, all of which reported positive inflows.
BlackRock and WisdomTree Lag Behind Despite the bullish momentum across much of the market, not all funds performed equally well. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) both reported zero inflows on Friday. IBIT, in particular, has faced difficulties in recent weeks, with several trading days of no inflows and even net outflows on two occasions, August 29 and September 9. Since its launch, IBIT has only experienced three days of net outflows, making the recent performance an anomaly.
Nevertheless, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs ended the week with over $400 million in net inflows, reflecting growing optimism in the cryptocurrency market.
Crypto Market Sees Broader Rally Beyond Bitcoin ETFs, the overall cryptocurrency market also enjoyed a strong rally. Bitcoin’s price jumped from $54,300 at the start of the week to over $60,600 by Friday. Other major cryptocurrencies followed suit, with Ethereum (ETH) posting an 8% weekly increase, reaching $2,400. Altcoins like Toncoin (TON), Chainlink (LINK), and Avalanche (AVAX) also performed well, according to CoinGecko data.
Despite the rally, a report from ARK Invest revealed that many Bitcoin ETF investors are still holding positions at a loss, with the average cost basis of Bitcoin ETF investors remaining above the current market price. However, the report emphasized that Bitcoin’s long-term fundamentals remain strong, citing the MVRV Z-Score, which indicates that the cryptocurrency’s underlying value is still bullish.
Speculation of Interest Rate Cuts Fuels Optimism The recent surge in Bitcoin and the broader crypto market has been fueled, in part, by speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may cut interest rates during its next meeting on September 18. With inflation data coming in lower than expected at 2.5%, many investors anticipate a rate reduction of 25-50 basis points. Potential monetary easing from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada could further bolster optimism in the cryptocurrency market.
