Spot Bitcoin ETFs Saw Modest Weekly Inflows as Bitcoin Rallied Past $85k

Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States saw modest weekly inflows as Bitcoin rallied past $85k, driven by expectations of a softer Fed stance on rate cuts

The 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States brought in a modest $15.85 million in net inflows for the week to April 17, breaking a two-week outflow streak that saw $886 million leave the funds, SoSoValue’s analysis of exchange-traded products shows.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, rallied past $85,000 in volatile trade amid expectations of a softer Federal Reserve stance on rate cuts and President Donald Trump’s push to replace the central bank chair.

From April 14 to 17, Bitcoin ETFs had a mixed but mostly positive run: $1.47 million came in on Monday, a solid $76.42 million on Tuesday, followed by a big $169.87 million outflow on Wednesday. But sentiment flipped again on Thursday, with $107.83 million flowing back in.

Most of the inflows went to BlackRock’s IBIT, which pulled in $186.5 million, and Bitwise’s BITB with $23.8 million, according to Farside Bank. Other ETFs like Grayscale’s mini BTC Trust, Invesco’s BTCO, Franklin’s EZBC, and VanEck’s HODL also chipped in, adding a combined $26.3 million.

However, Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK’s ARKB saw large outflows of $174.9 million and $99.8 million, respectively, while the rest of the ETFs were in a small range.

Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs are still struggling. They saw $32.17 million in outflows, marking the eighth straight week of losses and nearly $910 million lost so far.

What really stirred the markets last week was the back-and-forth between Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. On Monday, April 16, Powell spoke in Chicago and said the Fed wasn’t rushing into any rate cuts. He also warned that Trump’s tariff measures on key trading nations, especially China, might push up inflation and hurt jobs. That sparked Wednesday’s large outflow.

But things flipped on Thursday after Trump said Powell’s “termination can’t come fast enough.” Reports also came out that Trump might replace him with Kevin Warsh, a former Fed official known for being pro-crypto.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been recovering since the news and is up 3% early Monday to over $87,600, the highest it’s been since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The rally wiped out losses from earlier in April and has pushed Bitcoin up more than 16% since bottoming near $75K on April 9.

It’s now just 20% away from its all-time high, and the investor mood seems to be turning bullish again.

Interestingly, Bitcoin’s rise is mirroring gold’s. Both assets are benefitting from the falling U.S. dollar and growing uncertainty. The U.S. Dollar Index has dropped 10% this year amid global trade tensions.

In an April 21 X post, analysts at Geiger Capital said that Bitcoin looks like it’s starting to “decouple” from traditional markets. In a chart they shared, BTC has broken out of a large falling wedge pattern that’s been forming since the start of this year, a signal that often hints at more sustained gains ahead.