Institutional money is flowing back into Bitcoin, shaking up the market. Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the U.S. just saw their best week of inflows since July. These funds pulled in a massive USD $2.34 billion in the five days leading up to September 12, according to data from SoSoValue. This surge of capital happened just as Bitcoin’s price began to climb again.
This big comeback follows a quieter period. For weeks, Bitcoin ETFs saw only small inflows or even outflows after their previous peak on July 18. Last Friday alone, inflows topped USD $642 million. This was much higher than the USD $246 million and USD $440 million seen in the two weeks before. It really signals a change in investor mood.
Leading the charge this week was BlackRock’s IBIT, attracting USD $1.36 million from investors. Fidelity’s FBTC was close behind with USD $850 million in weekly inflows. Ark Invest’s ARKB added roughly USD $181.7 million, based on numbers from Farside Investors. Bitwise’s BITB also did well, bringing in USD $138.5 million. Most other ETFs saw smaller positive flows. Only two, Valkyrie’s BRRR and WisdomTree’s BTCW, stayed flat. All these inflows happened on September 9 for the Bitwise, Ark, and Fidelity funds.
Money Returns to Bitcoin
These strong inflows point to a clear trend: capital is returning to the Bitcoin market. This follows a time when investors were a bit wary or shifted their money elsewhere. For instance, Ethereum ETFs were more popular than Bitcoin ones in August. The second-largest cryptocurrency grabbed a lot of attention from big investors back then.
Ethereum ETFs saw record inflows of USD $3.8 billion in August. Bitcoin ETFs, by comparison, only gathered USD $2.59 billion during that month. This shift happened because more institutions bought Ethereum for their treasuries. Also, some big Bitcoin holders sold their holdings to buy ETH instead.
However, this week’s story is different. Ethereum-linked ETFs brought in USD $637 million. While better than the previous week’s outflows, it still trailed far behind Bitcoin’s impressive weekly net inflows.
Bitcoin (BTC) itself hit USD $116,000 this week. This price jump is largely due to hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting next week. This positive feeling boosted the entire cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s price stood at USD $115,947 at the time of writing. That’s a 4.5% jump in 24 hours. It is still 6.6% below its all-time high from last month, according to CoinGecko.
Many market experts believe Bitcoin could reach new highs soon. They see institutional money coming back and ETFs attracting more funds. This outlook holds true especially if wider economic developments align with these positive predictions. Analysts from Standard Chartered and Bernstein, for example, are targeting a price of USD $200,000 by the end of the year. This week’s renewed interest from big investors certainly gives that forecast more weight.