Peanuts, Schmeanuts: Spot Bitcoin ETFs Stretch the Inflow Streak to Six Days 🍐

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds extended their inflow streak to six consecutive sessions on Tuesday, adding $203.1 million and pulling the cumulative haul of the run to roughly $930 million, according to SoSoValue data. The streak is the longest consecutive stretch of net inflows since a six-day run from April 30 through May 5. Since launch in January 2024, the 13 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated $51.8 billion in cumulative net inflows, with total net assets reaching $80.9 billion. Year-to-date net flows for the complex remain negative at roughly $4.84 billion.

The latest leg of inflows came as $BTC traded above $65,000, briefly touching $66,700 on Tuesday before settling near $65,802, up about 2% over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin had bounced to $64,000 earlier in the month on the back of renewed ETF demand before retracing to just under $63,000 overnight. The run-up followed the first positive week for the funds since May, which took in $197.4 million on a net basis and snapped an eight-week outflow streak that had drained more than $8.26 billion since May 11. That week opened with a $265.7 million inflow on Monday and added $21.5 million on Tuesday, gave back $84.9 million on Wednesday and $95.3 million on Thursday amid U.S.-Iran military escalation, and closed Friday with a $90.4 million inflow. BlackRock's IBIT led the buying on both green days, adding $209.4 million on Monday and $86.8 million on Friday, and recorded $291.9 million in inflows across the week overall. IBIT was also the single largest source of June's record $4.51 billion in monthly outflows.

The streak briefly appeared in jeopardy after Monday of the following week, when spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $424.66 million in net outflows, the largest single-day withdrawal in July, reversing the prior week's gains. Investors returned over the next four sessions, closing the week ending July 17 with $75.7 million in net inflows and bringing July's monthly total to $200.2 million at that point. July would go on to become the first month of positive net flows since April, when spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.97 billion in inflows. Daily flows continued to build, with $108 million on July 15, $181 million the next session, and $79.2 million the day after, a three-day total of about $368 million. The buying extended to a fifth consecutive day with $226.9 million on Monday, the strongest daily inflow since July 6, bringing the five-day total to roughly $727.3 million and pushing year-to-date net outflows below $5 billion.

U.S. spot Ether ETFs posted their own reversal during the same window, ending an eight-week outflow streak with $84.42 million in net inflows for the week ended July 17, led by BlackRock and Fidelity. Follow-through the following week lifted inflows to $105 million, the strongest weekly figure since April and a measurable acceleration from the prior week's $84 million. Cumulative complex-wide net inflows across nine issuers since the category launched in July 2024 totaled approximately $11.07 billion, with total net asset value near $10.4 billion, per BingX data. BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust, ticker ETHA, captured the majority of daily net positive flows, including $45.29 million of a $53.83 million session on July 15. $ETH traded at approximately $1,845 during the inflow week.

Analysts framed the rebound as a tentative easing of selling pressure rather than a confirmed return of institutional demand. Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at XS.com, said Bitcoin needs to "decisively break above the $65,000–$65,500 range" to confirm a new uptrend, adding that four consecutive sessions of inflows should be interpreted as "a sign that selling pressure is easing, rather than clear evidence that institutional investors have returned on a broad scale." On July 1, Citigroup cut its 12-month Bitcoin ETF inflow forecast from $10 billion to zero and lowered its 12-month Bitcoin price target from $112,000 to $82,000. Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas compared Bitcoin ETFs' trajectory with gold ETFs, noting that both products have experienced rapid adoption followed by extended periods of weaker performance, and said Bitcoin ETFs may follow a pattern of "spectacular gains, painful drawdowns and recoveries," with each cycle potentially setting higher highs over time.