Ethereum ETFs Pull $455M in a Day as ETH Outperforms BTC

Spot Ethereum ETFs drew another blockbuster inflow on Tuesday as institutional appetite for ETH continued to outpace demand for Bitcoin, a streak that, by some counts, has now stretched to seven straight trading days. Sentora, a data provider that tracks crypto capital flows, flagged the latest move on X.

It tweeted, “ETH ETFs registered over $455 million in net inflows yesterday. Interestingly, ETH ETFs have now outperformed BTC ETFs for seven straight days; a trend that may signal growing investor rotation and strengthening relative sentiment toward ETH.” X (formerly Twitter)

Multiple market trackers confirmed the size of the inflow: U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded roughly $455 million in net new money on Aug. 26, comfortably outpacing Bitcoin’s ETF flows that day and marking one of the largest daily inflows for the Ethereum product group since their launch.

The market has responded. Ethereum was trading around the mid-$4,600s on Wednesday, while Bitcoin sat near $110k,  a divergence that mirrors the ETF flows. Over the past week, ETH has generally held firm and shown modest gains, while BTC has seen larger chop and was reported down over the seven-day window by some trackers.

That reaction is consistent with recent data: several experts have chronicled a multi-day stretch where Ethereum-focused ETFs attracted more net capital than their Bitcoin counterparts, and that steady demand has been one of the key drivers cited for ETH’s outperformance.

Why Institutions May Be Favoring Ethereum

Analysts point to a handful of structural reasons why institutional flows might be tilting toward ETH. Unlike Bitcoin, a sizable share of the ETH supply can be staked to earn yield, and that yield-bearing dynamic has been attractive to yield-seeking institutional buyers. Moreover, BlackRock’s and other large asset managers’ ETH products have been notable beneficiaries of the inflows.

Large single-fund allocations can skew daily totals and accelerate short-term momentum. Continued development on Ethereum’s scaling and L2 ecosystem, plus improving fee dynamics, have been cited by banks and strategists as justification for stronger institutional interest. JPMorgan and others have pointed to ETF flows, corporate adoption and clearer regulatory treatment as part of the story.

Put together, those factors create a plausible narrative for investors to rotate some risk budgets from BTC into ETH, at least temporarily. However, market strategists caution that ETF flows are only one input among many. Some traders view the current rotation as a rational rebalancing (institutions adding yield-bearing assets) while others warn the stampede into ETH funds could reverse just as quickly if interest broadens back to Bitcoin or macro headlines shift investor risk appetite.

Technically, Ethereum’s mid-$4k handle looks to be a short-term support zone for some desks, with upside resistance clustered around prior intraday highs in the $4,700–4,900 area, depending on the exchange and time frame used. Bitcoin’s short-term momentum appears weaker by comparison, which helps explain why flows have favored ETH in recent days.

Whether this is a durable realignment or a shorter-lived rotation is the million-dollar question. Even as ETH ETFs pull in outsized sums, total AUM in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs still dwarfs Ethereum’s funds by a wide margin. A sustained leadership shift would require weeks to months of persistent inflows and continued fundamental support on the network side (staking, L2 growth, enterprise usage).

For now, flows and prices are telling the same story: institutional money is actively eyeing Ethereum, and on days like Aug. 26, that attention shows up in headline-size inflows. Traders and longer-term investors should treat ETF flow data as a high-frequency signal, powerful for short-term positioning, informative but not definitive for long-term allocation decisions.