Institutional demand continues to support Bitcoin ETF

Institutional capital continues to flood into cryptocurrencies, retail investors remain cautious and wait and see

Although market fluctuations keep retail investors on a defensive stance, institutional capital continues to flow into the cryptocurrency sector. Net inflows into ETFs backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum exceeded $220 million on Thursday, once again confirming traditional finance's growing appetite for these assets. BlackRock once again firmly holds the vast majority of subscription shares, further consolidating its role as the main driving force of this trend in the crypto ETF market.

Overview

·On Thursday, the combined net inflow of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs exceeded US$220 million.
·Net inflow for the fourth consecutive trading day (+128.69 million US dollars), with a cumulative total of US$755 million over the four days.
·BlackRock's IBIT fund leads the Bitcoin ETF with +128.33 million, while ETHA dominates the Ethereum ETF with +81.14 million.
·Despite the decline in prices, the number of outstanding shares remained stable, reflecting long-term accumulation strategies rather than short-term speculation.

Bitcoin ETF: BlackRock pushed for a fourth consecutive day of gains

The Bitcoin ETF recorded a net inflow of US$128.69 million through six different products, extending the current continuous upward trend to the fourth trading day, with a cumulative total of US$755 million. The allocation of funds between funds once again showed significant differences:

·BlackRock (IBIT): dominated the lead with +128.33 million, dominating the situation;
·Morgan Stanley (MSBT): Additional inflows +14.94 million;
·Fidelity (FBTC): Positive inflows +11.2 million;
·Gray scale: GBTC inflow + US$7.48 million, Bitcoin mini trust inflow + US$6.83 million;
· Bitwise (BITB): Small subscriptions + US$1.75 million;
· VanEck (HODL) and Valkyrie (BRRR): VanEck capital outflow-US$32.77 million, Valkyrie outflow-US$9.07 million.

Despite conflicts of funds redistribution among regulators, overall activity remained strong in the secondary market for spot derivatives. On Thursday, the total daily trading volume of all Bitcoin ETFs reached $1.36 billion, and the combined net assets under management closed at $78.77 billion.

As a result, a large amount of trading volume is concentrated in IBIT, further confirming BlackRock's dominance as the main access channel for institutional investors. These numbers reflect the continued strong demand for working capital from major market participants and provide a stable liquidity foundation for the market despite short-term price fluctuations sometimes seem hesitant.

Ethereum's surge and selective altcoin craze

In terms of the market's second largest asset, the trend is more clear: the combined net subscription of the five Ethereum ETFs reached US$92.15 million, and no capital outflow was recorded on any Ethereum ETF that day. BlackRock's ETHA products also dominated with subscriptions of US$81.14 million. The remaining funds were subscribed through Gray's Ethereum Mini Trust Fund (+4.55 million), its historic ETHE Fund (+3.07 million), BlackRock's ETHB products (+1.96 million) and Fidelity's FETH (+1.42 million). The Ethereum ETF's daily trading volume reached US$435.46 million and its net asset value reached US$10.64 billion. This market segment showed a significant recovery.

In contrast, the performance of other cryptocurrencies is more complex. XRP-backed ETFs returned to positive growth after injecting US$3.45 million, most of which came from Bitwise funds (US$2.89 million) and Franklin Templeton's XRPZ products (approximately US$562,000), bringing the sector's net asset value to US$964.21 million.

HYPE ETF continued its recovery trajectory, attracting US$2.84 million through Bitwise's BHYP products, with daily trading volume rising to US$5.1 million and net asset value reaching US$265.04 million. In contrast, the Solana ETF showed the opposite trend, with Fidelity's FSOL funds recording a net outflow of $859.45 million, reducing the sector's total net asset value to $857.24 million.

Lawrence Lepard's insights on holder maturity

In addition to daily cash flow, the ownership structure of these instruments provides a basic interpretation framework for understanding institutional investors 'attitudes towards price fluctuations. Commenting on the firmness of holders in recent fluctuations, Austrian economist and investment manager Lawrence Lepard emphasized the significant stability of the number of shares outstanding:

"Although the value of Bitcoin ETFs has fallen significantly from its peak, the total number of shares outstanding has fallen much less, indicating that net sell-off by holders is very limited."

This observation reveals a significant deviation between spot market volatility and long-term commitments of ETF holders. As asset management giants concentrate most of the inflows, asset data shows that a considerable number of institutional investors view these tools as strategic allocation tools rather than purely short-term speculative tools.

While this financial foundation provides valuable structural support for the ecosystem, it also raises questions about the concentration of capital in the hands of a few financial groups.

Future regulatory policy developments and the evolution of demand for specific altcoin derivative products will determine whether this selective preference will extend to a wider market or continue to primarily benefit industry leaders.