Bitcoin ETFs Pull In $676M as BTC Price Tops $119K

Bitcoin ETFs have recorded their highest single day of inflows since mid-September, as the price of Bitcoin topped $119,000 Thursday morning.

According to data from Farside Investors, Bitcoin ETFs attracted $675.8 million worth of inflows Wednesday. BlackRock’s IBIT fund, currently the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, led the charge with $405.5 million of inflows. Meanwhile, Fidelity’s FBTC fund attracted $179.3 million, while Bitwise’s BITB fund attracted $59.4 million.

Yesterday’s gains mark a three-day streak of $100 million-plus inflows since the start of the week, with Bitcoin ETFs attracting $518 million on Monday, September 29, and $429.9 million on Tuesday, September 30.

Wednesday’s inflows also revealed a stark change of fortunes since the end of last week. A total of $418.3 million left Bitcoin ETFs on September 26, with Fidelity’s FBTC losing $300.4 million.

Ethereum ETFs are performing well in terms of attracting investors. ETH funds attracted $80.9 million on Wednesday, following gains of $127.5 million on Tuesday and $546.9 million on Monday.

What is driving crypto ETF inflows? 

Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at exchange CEX.IO, chalked up the increased inflows over the past week to “a mix of macro and market-specific factors,” including predictions of looming cuts in interest rates in the US.

“The chance of a rate cut in October jumped to nearly 100% over the past week. Wednesday’s ADP private payrolls report pointed to weakness in the labor market, reinforcing expectations for further Fed cuts,” Otychenko noted.

On prediction market Myriad, launched by Decrypt‘s parent company DASTAN, users place a 75% chance on exactly two Fed rate changes by the end of the year.

Otychenko told Decrypt that if the ADP report “proves to be a leading signal and Friday’s NFP report is delayed due to the shutdown, this could support another 0.25% this month.”

The ADP and NFP are regular reports containing data on US overall employment, and are commonly looked at by speculators in financial markets. Otychenko told Decrypt that weaker U.S. macro data may increase risk aversion and fuel demand for safe-haven assets.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $119,288, up 2.3% on the day, per CoinGecko data.

Analysts chalked up its recent strong performance to investors perceiving Bitcoin as a store-of-value akin to gold, amid ongoing risks including dollar debasement under current U.S. fiscal policy and de-dollarization in countries like Russia and China.

Dovile Silenskyte, Director of Digital Assets Research at investment firm WisdomTree, noted that, “Bitcoin captures both store-of-value flows (like gold) and growth-asset upside (like technology and artificial intelligence),” adding that, “Few assets straddle both narratives as effectively.”