Bitcoin ETF inflows surpass $3b in October, demand hits six-month high

October has been a strong month for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, with net inflows surpassing $3 billion, marking the highest demand in the past six months.

In the past week alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $1 billion in inflows, with four days of positive flows. A significant portion of these inflows came from BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, the largest spot Bitcoin ETF by net assets, which is closing in on $24 billion in total inflows since its launch. Despite a relatively strong week, the prior week was even more bullish, as $2.13 billion in net inflows were recorded, marking the first time weekly inflows into Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $2 billion since March 2024.

Over the course of October, total inflows into the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs have now reached over $3.07 billion, driven by several days of positive flows. The week starting October 21 saw a strong start with $294.29 million entering these funds, followed by a brief outflow on October 22 of $79.09 million. However, positive inflows quickly resumed, peaking at $402 million on October 25.

The leading ETF in terms of inflows was BlackRock’s IBIT, which alone saw $291.96 million in the past 10 days, continuing its streak of inflows. Other significant inflows came from Fidelity’s FBTC ($56.95 million) and ARK 21Shares’s ARKB ($33.37 million). Other ETFs, such as Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust, also saw modest inflows.

Notably, Bitcoin ETF demand reached a six-month high on October 25, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, who shared that the 30-day momentum indicator for spot Bitcoin ETFs hit levels not seen since the Bitcoin halving event in April. The demand is primarily driven by retail investors, although large investors still account for around 20% of the total inflows into U.S.-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs.

This surge in demand reflects growing interest in Bitcoin as an asset class, with retail investors continuing to play a prominent role in the ETF market.

The rising demand for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs could soon result in the total Bitcoin held by these 12 offerings surpassing 1 million Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.

In an October 24 post on X, Balchunas noted that the combined holdings of these ETFs are already 87% of the way toward surpassing the amount of Bitcoin held by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s anonymous creator. Nakamoto’s wallet is believed to contain around 1.1 million Bitcoin.

Given the ongoing inflows into these Bitcoin ETFs, it’s likely that this milestone will be reached soon, reflecting the growing institutional and retail interest in Bitcoin through regulated investment products.

At press time, Bitcoin was down 1.3%, exchanging hands at $67,007, while its market cap stood at $1.32 billion.