Bitcoin opened September testing the $80,000 handle that last week's squeeze failed to hold. CoinGecko put the coin near $78,700, up about 1.5% on the day after prints in the high $77,000s on Monday. CoinMarketCap later showed about $79,055. Ether firmed toward $2,473. The tape that matters is not the wick. It is that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $216.7 million on Monday, reversing the $201.8 million redemption that ended a nine-session buying streak on Friday. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, ticker IBIT, absorbed $205.9 million, about 95% of the category, according to Farside Investors. August still closed as the strongest ETF month of 2026, with more than $3 billion of net inflows. See how that month survived Friday's outflow.
The rest of the complex was a rounding error beside IBIT. Fidelity's FBTC added $6.9 million, Bitwise BITB $4.3 million, Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin Trust $3.6 million, and Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust $9.4 million. VanEck's HODL was the only redemption, at $13.4 million. Spot activity is cooler than the wrappers. Glassnode's weekly pulse said spot cumulative volume delta flipped from $279.7 million of buying to $67.2 million of selling, a 124% swing into negative territory. Weekly ETF inflows still ran $946 million, down more than 50% from $1.9 billion the week before, but above the upper statistical band. Network hashrate recovered too. Luxor's seven-day average rose 3.3% to 915 exahashes per second by 31 August, with the next difficulty adjustment due around 5 September.
Ether, XRP and Solana funds kept buying
Spot Ether ETFs printed $87.7 million, an 11th straight session of net inflows. BlackRock's ETHA led with $59.9 million, followed by Grayscale's Ethereum Mini Trust at $13.5 million and Fidelity's Ethereum Fund at $9.3 million. Cumulative Ether ETF net inflows sit near $13.1 billion, with net assets around $15.6 billion, about 5.2% of ether's market cap. XRP funds extended a 10-session run with $5.64 million, every U.S. session green since 18 August. Solana ETFs also logged a 10th positive day, though the print slowed to $925,010 from $18.1 million on Friday, the weakest session of that streak. That is still demand. It is not the same bid that took Bitcoin through $80,000 last week.
The $80,000 test sits in front of Friday's jobs print
Traders still mark $77,000 as nearby support and $79,400 to $80,000 as the reclaim. Acceptance above $81,000 would put last week's breakout back on. A break of $77,000 would weaken the four-hour structure into Friday's August employment report, the first data that can talk September hike odds down from about 60%. Creations force the funds to buy spot. Redemptions force them to sell. One green Monday after one red Friday is a bounce, not a regime. Two more IBIT-led sessions into $80,000 would say the wrappers still want the coin even as Warsh's Jackson Hole speech keeps the funds-rate path live.