Fidelity Does the Heavy Lifting as Bitcoin ETFs Finally Catch a $221M Break

U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $221.7 million in net inflows on Thursday, their first daily haul above $200 million since early May and the end of a 10-day streak of net outflows that drained more than $2.7 billion from the funds, according to SoSoValue. The recovery comes after a bruising stretch for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which posted a record $4.5 billion in net outflows in June. Bitcoin ($BTC) reclaimed the $61,000 level after briefly falling below $59,000 earlier in the week, with the global crypto market cap rising 2.4% to $2.22 trillion over the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko data. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index from Alternative.me registered an "extreme fear" reading on Friday. Year-to-date net outflows from the funds remain at roughly $5.4 billion.

Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) led Thursday's rebound with $166 million in net inflows, accounting for about 75% of the day's total, according to Farside Investors. ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) followed with $91.8 million, while the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL) and Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR) attracted $4.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF by assets, continued to bleed, posting $40.4 million in net outflows and extending an 11-session outflow streak since June 17 that has now cost the fund more than $2.2 billion.

The rebound extended beyond Bitcoin, with US spot Ether ($ETH) ETFs drawing $29.1 million on Thursday after $14.9 million the prior day, and XRP ETFs returning to net inflows of $6.6 million following two consecutive sessions of outflows. Andri Fauzan Adziima, research lead at Bitrue Research Institute, said the same positive shift is "now supporting renewed flows into Ethereum ETFs as well," attributing improved sentiment in part to softer signals from the Federal Reserve. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh indicated inflation risks had eased, pulling the dollar back after the government's June jobs report showed just 57,000 nonfarm payrolls added, well below the roughly 110,000 forecast. Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said the market could be nearing a bottom.

Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey, said the turn reflected "the marginal shift in interest rate expectations," adding that persistent outflows had mirrored the market's "pricing-in of further rate hikes," which lifted the dollar and real yields against non-yielding Bitcoin, while the weak payrolls print has been "weakening the market's anticipation of further rate hikes." Sun cautioned that the bounce is "only a temporary recovery after the easing of interest rate pressure" with a trend reversal as yet unconfirmed, noting Bitcoin's path remains "constrained by changes in the U.S. dollar, real interest rates, and Federal Reserve policies." Stephen Wundke, strategy and revenue director at Algoz Technologies, said "bargain-hunters" were buying oversold assets after a flight to safety that hit even gold, and that Bitcoin may "bounce around the bottom for a few more weeks," but added that "the direction of travel is clear to see."