US spot bitcoin ETFs returned to net inflows with $119 million on Tuesday, reversing Monday’s $90 million outflow, while ether ETFs extended their losing streak to six straight sessions with $202 million in withdrawals, according to SoSoValue data.
The split came on a day when bitcoin itself traded around the mid-$85,000 range before slipping under $85,000 on Wednesday, down roughly 2 percent at press time. The divergence between the two largest crypto fund categories has now run for a full week, and the gap is widening rather than closing.
Netflows this uneven tell you more about who is trading than about the overall market mood. Nearly all of Tuesday’s bitcoin-side buying traced back to a single fund, and nearly all of the ether-side selling to a single fund as well.
Bitcoin side: BlackRock does nearly all the buying
BlackRock’s IBIT absorbed $122 million in net inflows on Tuesday, more than the entire category’s net total, which means the rest of the bitcoin fund complex was roughly flat to slightly negative on balance. IBIT’s cumulative net inflow now stands at $65.9 billion since launch in January 2024.
Morgan Stanley’s MSBT added $7.8 million, a modest second day of buying for the bank’s new spot fund. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust shed $11 million, the largest single-fund outflow on the bitcoin side. The remaining funds reported no material flows, which is itself notable: of the twelve-plus spot bitcoin funds trading in the US, only three moved meaningful money on the day.
Total assets across US spot bitcoin ETFs sit at about $110.7 billion, some 6.4 percent of bitcoin’s total market capitalization. Cumulative net inflows across all funds since launch reached $57.8 billion. At the peak of the category’s popularity, daily inflows regularly ran into the billions; a $119 million day counts as quiet by comparison, but positive.
Ether side: one fund, one big withdrawal
Ethereum’s picture was much darker. The $202 million net outflow came almost entirely from BlackRock’s ETHA, which shed the full amount in one session while every other ether fund reported no flows. It was the category’s biggest daily withdrawal in weeks and pushed the seven-day total to roughly $405 million, with Monday adding another $51 million to the tally.
By contrast, bitcoin ETFs are up about $173 million over the same seven-day window.
Smaller token funds also split on Tuesday. XRP ETFs took in $3.1 million, Solana ETFs lost $3.7 million, and Zcash ETFs were flat after two straight sessions of outflows. None of the single-asset altcoin funds is anywhere near the scale of the bitcoin and ether products, so these prints move headlines more than markets.
Why the two markets are moving differently
The ether outflow streak coincides with a stretch of underperformance for ETH against bitcoin and against the wider market. Crypto traders have been running risk-on on bitcoin dominance while ether lags, and the fund flows suggest institutional holders are cutting ether exposure faster than bitcoin exposure when they de-risk.
Several desks have described the rotation as structural rather than tactical. Ether’s staking yield and its fee revenue growth this quarter have made it a harder hold for managers running benchmarked portfolios, while bitcoin’s macro hedge narrative keeps drawing dip-buying flows even on red days. One US desk noted that ETH’s fund-level weakness started weeks before the price weakness became obvious, with the seven-day outflow streak beginning in late September.
There is also a mechanical factor specific to bitcoin. IBIT’s options market is now deep enough that basis and covered-call desks route most of their hedging through IBIT, which amplifies its share of flows on days when aggregate demand is small. On a $119 million day, one or two large ticket buyers can account for nearly all of it, and that is effectively what happened: at least two desks reported seeing block-level purchases routed through IBIT late in the session.
What it means for prices
Fund flows are not price direction, but the pattern matters for supply. Six straight days of ether redemptions put persistent sell pressure on the ETF-held ether float, and the category has now given back a meaningful chunk of its earlier accumulation this year. If the streak continues, the ETF complex flips from a marginal ETH buyer into a structural seller, a reversal of the dynamic that powered ether’s spring rally.
Bitcoin’s inflow day, meanwhile, arrived despite falling prices, which several read as dip accumulation rather than momentum chasing. That interpretation fits with on-chain data showing spot demand declining even as larger holders absorb coins. CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index hit 90 this week after bitcoin reclaimed its 365-day moving average, even while spot demand fell by an estimated 170,000 BTC over 30 days.
Traders will watch two things into Thursday: whether ether flows finally turn, and whether bitcoin keeps taking money at prices under $85,000. A third straight bitcoin-positive, ether-negative session would confirm the rotation thesis. A reversal would suggest Tuesday’s print was noise around a flat week.
The macro backdrop is not helping either asset. Bitcoin had already lost $84,000 earlier this week on a wave of long liquidations tied to Middle East shipping risk, with $403 million wiped out in a single hour. The 10-year Treasury yield sits above 5.3 percent, a level last seen in the early 2000s, and tight money conditions have repeatedly capped crypto rallies this quarter. Gold, a competing store-of-value trade, holds near $4,150 after a run of record highs.