US spot bitcoin ETFs took in $433 million on Friday, their largest daily inflow of the week, but the rebound came too late to rescue ether funds, which finished the week with a net outflow of $140.6 million.
The Friday surge was overwhelmingly a Fidelity day. The firm’s FBTC fund supplied $310.7 million of the total, nearly three times the $108.4 million added by BlackRock’s IBIT. Bitwise’s BITB, ARK 21Shares’ ARKB and VanEck’s HODL posted smaller positive flows, giving the session more than one source of demand, but the concentration in a single issuer is the detail that matters. This was not a broad institutional wave. It was one large buyer stepping back in after two brutal sessions.
The week’s shape tells the story. Bitcoin funds opened Monday with a $159.9 million inflow, then lost $450.4 million on Tuesday and $295.9 million on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised rates 25 basis points. Thursday brought $159.5 million back, and Friday’s $433 million pushed the group to a weekly net inflow of just $6.1 million. Barely positive, after a week that at one point looked headed for a steep loss.
| Day | BTC ETF flow | ETH ETF flow |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Sep 14 | +$159.9M | – |
| Tue, Sep 15 | -$450.4M | -$142.0M |
| Wed, Sep 16 | -$295.9M | -$224.1M |
| Thu, Sep 17 | +$159.5M | -$39.3M |
| Fri, Sep 18 | +$433.0M | +$29.4M |
| Week total | +$6.1M | -$140.6M |
Ether funds could not catch up
Ether ETFs followed a similar path but never recovered. Three straight days of redemptions, totaling $405.4 million, left a hole that Friday’s $29.4 million inflow barely dented. Fidelity’s FETH led the Friday rebound with $26.2 million, while Bitwise’s ETHW added $1.3 million and VanEck’s ETHV $1.9 million. BlackRock’s ETHA, which had drawn $114.3 million in the prior session’s broader recovery, was not enough to change the weekly picture.
The gap between the two asset classes widened. Bitcoin products ended the week essentially flat, ether products ended it clearly negative. Analysts watching the flows note that a single-session rebound concentrated in one issuer is a weak signal. If inflows broaden across issuers in the coming sessions, the outflow streak can be called over. If not, Friday may prove to have been a pause in a longer stretch of redemptions.
Solana quietly had its best day of the month
While bitcoin and ether dominated the headlines, Solana funds recorded $47.6 million of net inflows on Friday, all of it into Bitwise’s BSOL, the largest daily figure for Solana ETFs in September. Hyperliquid ETFs added $1 million after a $4.3 million inflow the day before. XRP was the outlier, with a minimal net outflow of about $43,700 as $1.52 million into Franklin’s fund failed to offset $1.56 million leaving Bitwise’s.
Across all four categories tracked by Farside Investors, roughly $70.7 million exited on a net basis for the week. The ether outflow alone exceeded the combined inflows into bitcoin, Solana and Hyperliquid funds. For a category that had been one of the steadier performers earlier in the year, the reversal is sharp. Solana products had drawn a record $138 million over a ten-day stretch in late August, and BSOL became the first US Solana fund to cross $1 billion in assets that same month.
Context: a rate hike and a failed vote
The week’s flows played out against two shocks. The Fed delivered its first rate hike in three years on Wednesday, and the Senate’s CLARITY Act vote failed the same week, removing the legislative catalyst many investors had been waiting for. Bitcoin nonetheless reclaimed $80,000 by Thursday and pushed above $81,000 on Friday as oil-driven bond yields eased and short positions unwound, triggering roughly $250 million of short liquidations in the process.
The resilience of the price against the flow data is the notable part. Glassnode data cited by market analysts showed bitcoin holding key cost-basis levels even as funds bled on Tuesday and Wednesday, suggesting spot buyers outside the ETF structure were absorbing the supply. On-chain researchers pointed to improving demand as the market approached a dense resistance zone between $83,000 and $86,000, where long-term holders sit near breakeven and residual short liquidation levels cluster.
Whether that holds through another week of macro uncertainty is the open question traders are pricing. The Fed’s hawkish turn has pushed some forecasters to cut their targets. CoinShares, the asset manager, published a note arguing bitcoin has no path above $80,000 into year-end given the policy backdrop, while VanEck publicly disagreed and called for $100,000. The split among research desks mirrors the split in the flow data itself.
For issuers, the week demonstrated how quickly sentiment can flip. The same products that recorded $746 million of outflows in two days drew back more than $590 million in the following two. Concentration risk cuts both ways: Fidelity’s Friday buying rescued the week, but a single firm’s reversal could just as easily produce the next outflow streak. Weekly issuer totals tell that story plainly, with IBIT ending the week at $120.6 million and FBTC at $79.9 million despite the midweek chaos.
The next test comes with the new trading week. If ether flows turn positive across multiple issuers rather than one, the September correction narrative weakens. If Friday’s numbers prove to be a one-off, the category faces another week of redemptions with no legislative catalyst in sight and a Fed that has just signaled it is done being patient with inflation.