Bitcoin Bears Lose Grip As U.S. Spot BTC ETFs Gobble Up $507 Million ⋆ ZyCrypto

Investor appetite roared back Wednesday, with U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin funds absorbing nearly $507 million as BTC retook $68,000 — a level of inflows not seen since early February.

Bitcoin ETFs See Renewed Optimism Revival

Data from SoSoValue shows that spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $506.51 million in net inflows on Feb.25, driven primarily by $297.4 million entering BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Six other funds, among them offerings from Fidelity and Grayscale, posted positive flows, and no ETF saw net redemptions.

At the moment, total net assets of U.S. spot BTC ETFs amount to 6.34% of the asset’s circulating supply, which is equivalent to $87.60 billion. Cumulative Total Net Inflow stands at $54.57 billion since launch in January 2024.

Bitcoin ETF outflows have surpassed inflows since the start of the year, as heightened volatility and declining prices have dampened investor confidence across retail and institutional participants. Wednesday sealed two back-to-back days of inflows, raising hopes of a turnaround after February’s brutal sell-off slashed a staggering $20 billion in net assets.

The renewed buying coincides with ongoing debate among investors over how market structure influences Bitcoin price discovery, particularly the impact of Wall Street market makers like Jane Street and authorized participants (APs) responsible for creating and redeeming ETF shares.

Following a recent lawsuit filed by Terraform Labs administrator Todd Snyder, rumors on X have circulated alleging that Jane Street influenced Bitcoin prices through derivatives exposure and market manipulation.

Meanwhile, crypto market sentiment witnessed a midweek lift as Bitcoin bounced back from its early-week dip below $63,000. Bitcoin came within touching distance of $70,000 on Wednesday before retracing toward $67K. Over the past 24 hours, the world’s most valuable crypto has climbed 2% to trade around $67,965, while Ether surged 5%, snapping back above $2,000, according to CoinGecko.

The Fear and Greed Index also ticked higher, rising to 11 from 5 earlier this week. Despite the improvement, sentiment remains firmly in the “fear” zone.

Additional on-chain data suggests selling pressure on U.S. exchanges is easing. The Coinbase Premium Index — which tracks the price gap between Bitcoin on Coinbase and Binance as a proxy for U.S. institutional demand—has rebounded from deeply negative levels around February 12 to 0.05 this week.

“Selling pressure on Coinbase is easing,” CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju observed in a Thursday post on X, highlighting the metric’s recent turnaround.