Bitcoin ETFs Reach $158 Billion Amid Growing Demand

The surge in Bitcoin prices last week propelled U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs to a record total net asset value exceeding $158 billion. On Thursday and Friday alone, these funds attracted a staggering $2.21 billion in combined inflows—$1.18 billion on Thursday and $1.03 billion on Friday, marking the highest levels since the ETFs started trading in January 2024. BlackRock's leading fund, IBIT, attracted a remarkable $953.5 million on Friday, accounting for about 95% of the total inflows that day, with no other fund reaching over $25 million. IBIT notably became the fastest ETF to achieve $80 billion in assets under management (AUM). This influx raised the total net asset value of these funds to $158.03 billion, significantly outpacing the next largest ETF, Fidelity's FBTC, which holds approximately $36.4 billion in AUM compared to IBIT's $80 billion. Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, stated, "The shift reflects growing confidence in BTC as a regulated, long-term asset similar to gold. Strong institutional demand may persist unless macroeconomic uncertainty from upcoming CPI data leads to profit-taking." On Friday, Bitcoin's price reached an all-time high of around $118,500 before slightly retracting to $117,400 on Saturday. In the world of Ethereum, while spot Ethereum ETFs are yet to match the BTC funds in total net asset value due to Ethereum's weaker price performance, they achieved a record high of $5.31 billion in cumulative inflows over a six-day streak that gathered around $1.057 billion. Despite this growth, the total net asset value of these Ethereum funds, currently at $13.5 billion, is still below the previous high of $14.3 billion in mid-December of last year. BlackRock's ETHA is the largest Ethereum ETF, boasting an AUM of $6.14 billion, surpassing the combined AUM of Grayscale's ETHE and ETH. Total net inflows in ETH also hit new heights during this period. In the last 24 hours, the price of Ethereum saw a slight decline of 1.2%. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet providing news and data about the crypto industry. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice.