BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Draws 83% of Thursday’s Inflows

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $606.29 million on Thursday, the category’s biggest single-day haul since May 1, according to SoSoValue data. BlackRock’s IBIT absorbed $502.99 million of that, roughly 83 cents of every dollar entering the sector.

A Four-Day Run Building Toward $2 Billion for August

Thursday’s number beat Wednesday’s $517.19 million and extended the inflow streak to four straight sessions: $297.56 million Monday, $189.30 million Tuesday, then the two larger days. Combined, that’s roughly $1.61 billion in four sessions.

August now stands at $2.07 billion in net inflows, already the best month of 2026 and ahead of April’s $1.97 billion, with seven trading sessions left in the month. That pace matters for anyone tracking whether institutional demand is accelerating or just catching up after a slow stretch – and right now the trend line is pointing up.

IBIT’s Share Widens as the Field Narrows

Fidelity’s FBTC took $64.74 million, Bitwise’s BITB added $26.4 million, and Ark and 21Shares’ ARKB brought in $12.2 million. VanEck’s HODL went the other way, shedding $3.59 million on the day.

The concentration is worth flagging on its own. On Wednesday, IBIT’s share of inflows was 55% and eight of twelve funds finished positive with none in the red. A day later, the total was bigger but the distribution narrowed sharply – IBIT alone accounted for about $1.09 billion of the $1.61 billion four-session total, a pattern that mirrors earlier concentration dynamics in the Bitcoin ETF market where BlackRock’s fund has repeatedly captured the lion’s share of new capital.

That squeeze isn’t abstract. Hashdex shut its DEFI Bitcoin ETF this month, the first US spot Bitcoin fund ever liquidated, with a final trading day of August 17. It charged the same 0.25% fee as IBIT but held just $14.7 million against IBIT’s roughly $47 billion, throwing off about $26,000 a year in fees – not enough to keep a fund running. Anyone who held past the 17th lost the exchange exit and is owed a cash payment at net asset value instead, dated either August 24 or August 28 depending on which Hashdex filing is cited, minus closing costs.

Altcoin Funds Finally Turn Up

Ethereum ETFs added almost $221 million, their largest single-day intake since October 2025 and a fourth consecutive positive session. The smaller products moved hardest in percentage terms: XRP funds took $13 million versus $2.35 million Wednesday, and Solana funds pulled in $15 million against $2.10 million the prior day.

Every listed asset drew inflows Thursday, including Hyperliquid’s product, which had been the lone outflow a day earlier. On Wednesday, Bitcoin funds collected one dollar for every $220 that reached XRP funds; by Thursday that gap had closed to roughly 47 to one. Money broadened across assets and narrowed within Bitcoin at the same time – a dynamic worth watching for anyone screening where institutional capital is rotating this month.

Price Ran Ahead of the Flows

Bitcoin traded around $77,000 Friday after challenging $80,000 overnight and touching roughly $79,400. It cleared $69,000 Wednesday and $72,000 Thursday, up about 24% since Monday – its best week since 2023 – while still sitting some 38% below the record above $126,000 set in October 2025.

The chart hasn’t flipped yet, though. Bitcoin’s death cross has held since November 16, 2025, and while price has climbed back above the 200-day simple moving average at $69,005, the 50-day sits at $63,976. It needs to cover roughly $5,000 more before a golden cross – the inverse of a death cross – completes.

Ethereum changed hands near $2,357 and XRP around $1.38, extending what was already XRP’s best week since the 2024 election pump to a roughly 38% gain. The move traces back to the Treasury’s decision to at least double long-end bond buybacks, which accelerated through a squeeze that liquidated $3 billion in short positions over 24 hours, with another $1 billion wiped out Friday.

What the Numbers Say About Institutional Positioning

Bitcoin ETF net assets closed Thursday at $90.16 billion, equal to 6.18% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization at that point. Cumulative net inflows have reached $53.40 billion since the funds began trading on January 11, 2024, per SoSoValue, with value traded across the sector hitting $5.41 billion on the day.

Those are the figures retail holders should anchor to rather than headline percentage moves – a $606 million day is real capital, not sentiment, and the four-session run suggests institutions are building positions rather than chasing a single green candle. Whether that continues into next week likely hinges on macro catalysts; the expanded Treasury buyback program takes effect September 9 and runs through November 4, when the next quarterly refunding sets sizes going forward.

None of this guarantees the rally holds. Four straight days of buying can just as easily give way to profit-taking if momentum stalls, and IBIT’s growing dominance means a pullback in one fund now moves the entire category’s daily print more than it used to.

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