What to know
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.1 billion in net inflows over three consecutive days, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for roughly half.
- The inflows coincide with a rebound in the Coinbase Premium index, signaling renewed U.S. demand.
- CME open interest continues to fall, suggesting ETF buying reflects outright long exposure rather than basis trade activity.
U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are on track to snap a streak of five consecutive weeks of net outflows with their strongest performance since mid-January.
The funds recorded net inflows of $1.1 billion in three straight days, according to data from SoSoValue, leaving them roughly $815 million ahead after Monday’s net outflow is taken into account, the most since adding $1.4 billion in the week ended Jan. 16.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for more than half of the three-day flow, drawing in roughly $652 million. On Wednesday, Grayscale’s GBTC, which carries the highest fee among the funds, posted its largest single-day inflow since converting from a trust structure to an ETF.
The renewed inflows suggest U.S. demand is returning, an conclusion reinforced by the Coinbase Premium Index turning positive after 40 days in negative territory. The index tracks the price difference between bitcoin on Coinbase (COIN), which is accessible to firms in the world’s largest economy, and the broader global market. It is widely used as a gauge of U.S. institutional flows and sentiment.
Data from Checkonchain shows total bitcoin holdings across U.S. spot ETFs climbed to 1.29 million BTC, putting assets under management (AUM) less than 10% below their October peak.
This comes despite the spot price of bitcoin remaining 45% below its October record. The largest cryptocurrency has continued to consolidate around the mid $60,000 range this week.
Meanwhile, open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has continued to decline, falling to 107,780 BTC, according to Glassnode data. Because CME allows institutions to simultaneously take a long position in spot bitcoin and a short position in futures — a strategy known as a basis trade — the drop in futures can be seen as indicating the ETF inflows are outright long positions.