The Spot Bitcoin ETF saw a reversal of good fortune last week as a wave of institutional cash flooded the market after weeks of lukewarm demand.
Over the week from April 21st to April 25th, Spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulated over $3 billion in net inflows.
As previously covered Encryptionwhich brought about a large influx on each day of the week, peaking at $936.5 million on April 22nd. To put this into perspective, Glass Node Data show that the April 22nd inflow was more than 500 times the average daily YTD flow. It marks the largest daily influx since at least November 2024, indicating how aggressive the late April shopping is.
The rise in flow follows a rapid price gathering, indicating a strong feedback loop between price rises and demand from institutional investors. Bitcoin has started a week of nearly $87,500 and has already recovered from its low of $87,500 by Friday, April 25th, approaching its highest level of $95,000 in about six weeks. Inflows and price increases have been strengthened against each other: As BTC split the past key thresholds into new multi-week highs, more institutional buyers may have rushed through ETFs, which may have added further upward pressure on the spot market.
Importantly, the purchases were extensive, with BlackRock’s IBit leading the huge production, but that week almost all of US Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow. This was a notable shift from the typical pattern in which a single dominant fund attracts most volumes. Grayscale’s GBTC continued to see investors withdraw money to spin into new ETFs.
For most of the past three months, Bitcoin ETFs have been bleeding assets. Almost every trading day saw net withdrawals. There was no difference at the beginning of April. By mid-April, the total monthly outflow had reached around $812 million, with even major ETFs like IBIT seeing substantial redemptions. The worst point came on April 8th, when more than $326 million was pulled in a day. The record-breaking spill was caused by a sudden escalation of the US-China trade dispute, which shocked the market by announcing new tariffs on Chinese imports, causing a risk-off shock wave.
The Bitcoin ETF was not affected by anxiety as investors trimmed exposure amid fears of wider market disruption. In fact, until early April, the positive signs were fleeting. April 2 was the only exception with a modest $218 million inflow, but it still came within geopolitical headlines (that day paradoxically prompted some dip views). Overall emotions remained unstable until mid-month.
As April progressed, multiple catalysts lined up and caused a turnaround. Around April 12, signals were revealed that macroeconomic and political outlooks were stable and would alleviate some of the horrors that had risen. US President Donald Trump publicly assures there are no plans to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and eases concerns about the potential tumultuous central banks. At the same time, the administration hinted at a trade war dialback, calling punitive tariffs “unsustainable” and supporting the trade war as it suggested the possibility of a ceasefire with China.
This shift in rhetoric has injected an optimistic amount into the global market. Geopolitical de-expansion and central bank stability suddenly made investors feel confident they were confident they would return to risky assets. Bitcoin, which had been resilient even when ETFs saw the leak, had risen towards the $85,000-90,000 range by mid-April, with its prices responding quickly. Bitcoin was ralliant even when US stocks were wobbling and showing decoupling.
On April 22nd, Bitcoin jumped to around 7% on the same day, with gold prices reaching record highs above $3,400/ounce. However, Bitcoin was collected in parallel with gold, not stock. This shows that Bitcoin is beginning to behave as a safe haven asset and is more similar to digital gold than tech stocks.
In short, by late April, the climate had shifted to something that Bitcoin’s risk appetite had returned, and was supported by a fascinating story. and As a hedge against the remaining macro fear. This favorable background has made institutional investors who previously sat on the bystanders (or withdrawal funds) now rushing, and Bitcoin ETFs become the instrument of choice.
Since April 21st, thick influx has been registered every day, reversing stable bleeding for several weeks. Spree began on April 21 with a net inflow of approximately $387 million. This was a net inflow of about $387 million as Bitcoin resumed from Easter Holidays, exceeding $87,000.
The next day was a blockbuster, with about $936.5 million increased on April 22nd to April 22nd, and the entire first half of April was pushed beyond $93,000. Surprisingly, this one-day hauling amounted to about 11.5 times the typical daily influx since these ETFs that began in January 2024. This was a truly extraordinary event described by GlassNode as a “significant deviation” indicating a revival of demand.
The momentum continued on April 23, adding another $917 million as Bitcoin fell just below $94,000. Even as the week went by and the initial frenzy cooled slightly, Thursday still had an influx of around $442 million, with over $380 million seen on Friday, April 25th. By the end of the week, Bitcoin ETFs had collectively raised more than $3 billion.
The post-bitcoin ETF’s demand for price breakouts that will lead to the biggest trend in 2025 first appeared in Crypto Slate.
