Summary
- On August 20, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $606.29 million, the highest since May 1, marking a fourth consecutive day of positive inflows.
- BlackRock's IBIT fund was the largest contributor, bringing in $502.99 million, which represents about 83% of total inflows, a rise from 55% the previous day, while VanEck's HODL experienced an outflow.
- In addition, Ethereum funds gained $221 million, while XRP and Solana attracted $13 million and $15 million, respectively, with all tracked assets seeing inflows.
According to data from SoSoValue, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded an impressive $606.29 million in inflows on Thursday, marking the largest single-day total since May 1. This amount surpasses Wednesday's inflow of $517.19 million, extending the current streak of inflows to four days.
The cumulative inflows over these four days total approximately $1.61 billion, with breakdowns of $297.56 million on Monday, $189.30 million on Tuesday, and the amounts from Wednesday and Thursday. For August, total inflows have reached $2.07 billion, making it the most successful month of 2026 thus far, outpacing April's $1.97 billion, with seven trading days remaining.
Dominance of One Fund
Bitcoin ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without owning the asset directly. In these funds, the issuer holds the Bitcoin, while investors receive a 1:1 equivalent, thus reflecting real-time price changes.
Since their introduction in early 2024, these funds have been extremely popular, with BlackRock, a $15 trillion asset management giant, emerging as the main benefactor. On Thursday, BlackRock’s IBIT fund attracted $502.99 million, accounting for roughly 83% of the total inflows. Other contributions included Fidelity's FBTC at $64.74 million, Bitwise's BITB at $26.4 million, and Ark and 21Shares' ARKB at $12.2 million, while VanEck's HODL saw a decrease of $3.59 million.
On Wednesday, IBIT made up 55% of total inflows, with eight out of twelve funds showing positive results. The following day saw a larger total with a more concentrated distribution.
Over the last four days, IBIT alone contributed about $1.09 billion of the total $1.61 billion. This mirrors the trend earlier in the month when funds attracted $853.5 million over five days, with IBIT accounting for around 80% of that amount.
Altcoin Funds Show Improvement
Ethereum ETFs gained nearly $221 million, marking their best single-day inflow since October 2025, and continuing a streak of four positive days.
Smaller funds also saw significant percentage increases. XRP funds received $13 million, a rise from $2.35 million the day before, while Solana funds brought in $15 million, up from $2.10 million. All listed assets saw inflows, including Hyperliquid's product, which had been the only outflow previously.
On Wednesday, Bitcoin funds collected one dollar for every $220 that flowed into XRP funds; by Thursday, this ratio improved to approximately 47 to one.
This indicates a broader distribution of funds across various assets while simultaneously tightening within Bitcoin. This trend has already impacted the market, leading to the closure of a fund this month.
Hashdex's DEFI Bitcoin ETF, the first-ever U.S. spot Bitcoin fund to be liquidated, ceased operations on August 17. It charged a 0.25% fee similar to IBIT but managed only $14.7 million compared to IBIT's $47 billion, generating approximately $26,000 annually in fees—insufficient to sustain the fund.
Investors who held past the 17th will receive a cash payment based on net asset value, scheduled for either August 24 or August 28, depending on the specific Hashdex filing, minus closing costs and adjusted for Bitcoin's value during the liquidation of its remaining 225 coins. This occurs during what has been Bitcoin's strongest week since 2023.
Price Trends Ahead of Inflows
Bitcoin's trading price hovered around $77,000 on Friday after briefly testing $80,000 and reaching nearly $79,400. It surpassed $69,000 on Wednesday and $72,000 on Thursday, showing a 24% increase since Monday, marking its best week since 2023, although it remains about 38% below the all-time high of over $126,000 set in October 2025.
Bitcoin's chart has not yet reversed. The death cross pattern has persisted since November 16, 2025. Although the price has risen above the 200-day simple moving average at $69,005, the 50-day average stands at $63,976, indicating that it needs to gain approximately $5,000 more for a golden cross, which is the opposite of the bearish death cross, to occur.
Ethereum was trading near $2,357 and XRP around $1.38, continuing to build on its strong performance, which has seen a 38% increase since the 2024 election surge. The momentum began when the Treasury decided to significantly increase long-end bond buybacks and accelerated as a squeeze liquidated $3 billion in short positions within 24 hours, with an additional $1 billion liquidated on Friday.
As of Thursday, Bitcoin ETF net assets reached $90.16 billion, representing 6.18% of Bitcoin's market capitalization at that time. Since their inception on January 11, 2024, cumulative net inflows have totaled $53.40 billion, according to SoSoValue. The total value traded within the sector amounted to $5.41 billion for the day. The Treasury's expanded buyback program will commence on September 9 and continue until November 4, when the Treasury will announce sizes for the next quarter during its subsequent quarterly refunding.