U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds took in $528.4 million on Wednesday, the second biggest daily haul of October, lifting the week's running total past $1.08 billion and extending the comeback that began with Monday's $526.6 million print. BlackRock led Wednesday with $234.99 million, followed by Fidelity at $212.71 million and Grayscale at $32.59 million, with Bitwise, Ark & 21Shares and Franklin Templeton adding smaller amounts, according to SoSoValue data. Cumulative net inflows since launch now stand at $57.96 billion, and total net assets reached $109.31 billion, equal to 6.42% of bitcoin's entire market value. The three-day run almost cancels the $909.6 million the funds lost over the previous two weeks.
Not yet the pace of a steep rally
The buying is real, but it is not yet the kind that has historically powered bitcoin's sharpest advances. A CoinDesk analysis of the flow data shows the three steep rallies since January 2024 ran on average daily inflows above $200 million, roughly $235 million a day. Since 1 July, when bitcoin began a 39% climb from about $60,000 to $83,500, the funds have averaged about $86 million a day, with only seven days of $500 million or more, about one in 11 trading days, against about one in five during the steep rallies. "Institutional demand shows tentative improvement. However, flows remain volatile and sustained inflows are needed to confirm a stronger recovery," Vikram Subburaj, chief executive of Indian exchange Giottus, said in an email. Tuesday's print showed how quickly the tap can narrow: the funds added just $23.16 million that day, the third smallest inflow of the month.
Ether, XRP and Solana funds turn positive
Wednesday brought relief beyond bitcoin. Ether ETFs added $14.96 million, only their second inflow day of October after a rough stretch that included five straight outflow days. Grayscale brought in $28.07 million and Fidelity $13.03 million, while BlackRock recorded a rare $29.32 million outflow. XRP funds added about $709,000 and Solana products about $585,000, ending a 12-day outflow streak for Solana and giving the XRP complex a positive print days after its 13-week inflow streak ended. On-chain data points the same way: Lookonchain flagged four freshly created wallets receiving 1,127 bitcoin, worth about $93.45 million, from market maker Wintermute, the sort of quiet accumulation that usually sits behind recovering ETF flows. The next test for all of these numbers is the Federal Reserve's 28 October decision.