BlackRock Absorbs 83% of Surging Crypto ETF Inflows as Market Squeeze Claims Smaller Issuers

A sharp acceleration in digital asset investment flows is driving extreme capital concentration among U.S. exchange-traded funds, funneling the vast majority of fresh allocations into BlackRock‘s flagship vehicle while smaller competitors struggle to remain viable.

Institutional capital entering U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $606.29 million on Thursday, August 20, the sector’s highest single-day net intake since May 1, according to SoSoValue. The session extended an uninterrupted four-day accumulation streak totaling roughly $1.61 billion.

August inflows have now reached $2.07 billion, surpassing April’s $1.97 billion benchmark with seven trading sessions remaining in the period.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) captured $502.99 million during Thursday’s session alone, approximately 83 percent of all net capital entering the category. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) recorded $64.74 million. Bitwise’s BITB brought in $26.4 million. The Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) secured $12.2 million. VanEck’s Bitcoin Trust (HODL) diverged, logging $3.59 million in net redemptions.

IBIT accounted for 55 percent of inflows on Wednesday, when eight of the 12 listed funds logged net gains without a single redemption. Over the four-session stretch, IBIT drew approximately $1.09 billion of the $1.61 billion sector total, mirroring trends from earlier in the month when the fund captured roughly 80 percent of an $853.5 million five-day influx.

The Hashdex DEFI Bitcoin ETF ceased trading on August 17 as the first U.S. spot Bitcoin fund to close. Despite charging the standard 0.25 percent sponsor fee matched by IBIT, Hashdex managed $14.7 million in assets against IBIT’s $47 billion. The resulting annualized fee revenue of roughly $26,000 proved insufficient to cover operational expenses. Investors holding shares through the liquidation date forfeited open-market execution and are scheduled to receive net asset value cash distributions on either August 24 or August 28 as Hashdex liquidates its remaining 225 bitcoins during a major price advance.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded nearly $221 million in net inflows Thursday, a fourth consecutive positive session and the largest single-day intake since October 2025. Smaller single-token products registered the steepest relative increases: XRP-focused funds attracted $13 million compared to $2.35 million on Wednesday, while Solana funds expanded to $15 million from $2.10 million. Every listed digital asset product closed with net inflows, including Hyperliquid’s fund following an outflow the prior day.

Bitcoin climbed to roughly $77,000 on Friday after testing $79,400 overnight and breaking through resistance at $69,000 on Wednesday and $72,000 on Thursday. The rally established a 24 percent gain since Monday — Bitcoin’s best single-week performance since 2023 — though the asset remains roughly 38 percent below its October 2025 peak above $126,000. The price recovery pushed Bitcoin above its 200-day simple moving average at $69,005, while the 50-day moving average stood at $63,976. A bearish death cross has persisted since November 16, 2025, leaving the 50-day average roughly $5,000 below the threshold required for a golden cross reversal.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced it will at least double its long-end bond buyback operations, effective September 9 through November 4. The policy signal ignited a cascading short squeeze across crypto derivatives, eliminating $3 billion in short positions over a 24-hour window before liquidating an additional $1 billion on Friday. During the move, Ethereum traded near $2,357, while XRP reached approximately $1.38 to complete a 38 percent weekly rally.

Total net assets across all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at $90.16 billion at Thursday’s close, representing 6.18 percent of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization. Cumulative net inflows across the sector reached $53.40 billion since public trading commenced January 11, 2024. Aggregate daily trading volume across the funds reached $5.41 billion.