Bitcoin ETFs Record $870M Inflows as BTC Flirts With Lifetime Highs

• U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw over $870 million in net inflows on Tuesday, with BlackRock's IBIT leading at $629 million.
• This surge in investments coincided with bitcoin's price nearing its all-time high, fueled by pre-election market volatility expectations.

Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in the U.S. recorded over $870 million in net inflows on Tuesday, the third-highest such figures since the products first went live in January.

BlackRock’s IBIT logged over $629 million in inflows, SoSoValue data shows, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $133 million, Bitwise’s BITB at $52 million, Grayscale’s mini bitcoin trust BTC$89,407.48 at $29 million, VanEck’s HODL at $16 million and Ark’s ARKB at $12 million.

Grayscale’s bitcoin trust (GBTC) was the only ETF recording net outflows at $17 million. Total trading volumes crossed $4.75 billion — the highest since March — with IBIT accounting for $3.3 billion alone.

The ETF demand came as bitcoin fell just shy of its lifetime highs late Tuesday, boosted ahead of next week’s U.S. elections that traders largely consider a harbinger of volatility in the near term. Some target an $80,000 price level in November regardless of a Democrat or Republican win, with options bets for that price range seeing a surge in demand last week.

BTC jumped 3% Tuesday, extending seven day gains to 7.7% and leading a market move higher.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expects bigger inflow figures in the coming days on investor “FOMO,” or Fear Of Missing Out on a trade.

“$IBIT traded $3.3b today, biggest number in 6mo, which is a bit odd bc btc was up 4% (typically ETF volume spikes in a downturn/crisis),” Balchunas said on X. “Occasionally tho volume can spike if there a FOMO-ing frenzy (a la $ARKK in 2020). Given the surge in price past few days, my guess is this is latter, which means look for (more) big inflows this week.”

High inflows into an ETF is a measure of investor confidence or interest in the underlying asset. While inflows may not directly cause the ETF's underlying assets to increase in value, the buying pressure can lead to a price bump in the near term due to supply and demand dynamics and increased sentiment among traders.