BlackRock’s $665.2 million bid puts Bitcoin ETF flows back in the black

U.S. spot Bitcoin ($BTC) ETFs took in $526.7 million on Monday, their biggest single day since Sept. 22, according to Decrypt’s ETF tracker. The last larger session brought $714.7 million. Monday’s inflow interrupted two weeks of selling in which the funds shed about $910 million, including a $484.9 million exit on Oct. 7, their worst day since June. Friday closed with another $82.4 million of net selling.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) took in $665.2 million, more than the entire net total, according to Farside Investors. Fidelity’s FBTC lost $83.6 million and Grayscale’s GBTC lost $54.9 million, while the other funds recorded no flows at all.

Spot Ethereum ($ETH) ETFs lost $103 million on Monday, their fourth straight day of outflows, and Solana ETFs lost $6.7 million, according to Decrypt’s SOL ETF tracker. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana funds together still drew roughly $417 million. BlackRock’s Ethereum fund ETHA accounted for $95.4 million of the Ethereum outflow, the same day IBIT took in $665.2 million.

Bitcoin hovered around $82,000 on Monday, close to the $82,300 average cost basis that Nexo analyst Iliya Kalchev estimated for ETF holders last week. Cost basis is the average price investors paid for their coins, so a price near it means the typical holder is roughly at breakeven.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded between $108 and $110 a barrel on Monday after weekend attacks on Persian Gulf tankers. Expensive oil raises the cost of fuel and freight, which feeds into the prices consumers pay. The consumer price index rose 3.7% in the 12 months through September, with the energy index up 20.4%. Persistent inflation keeps the Federal Reserve leaning toward another increase after it lifted its target range by a quarter point in September.

Expected rate hikes push up Treasury yields, the return investors earn for lending to the U.S. government. The 10-year yield stayed above 5% on Monday, per Treasury data, and the 30-year touched about 5.7% on Oct. 7, the day of the $484.9 million exit. Bitcoin pays no yield, so a Treasury returning more than 5% with far less price risk competes for the same money. Another $261.4 million left the funds on Oct. 14, the same day the September CPI report was released. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are still about $88 million in the red for October with nine trading sessions left, and the Federal Reserve meets on Oct. 27-28.