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Invest Reports disagree2 publishers 2 min read Published

Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows fall 81% in three sessions from the year's record day

US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $191 million on Thursday, 81% below Monday's $999 million record, as their inflow streak passed six days and $2.8 billion. BlackRock's IBIT took about 85% of the day's money, so the other eleven funds slowed far more than the total shows.

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Illustration accompanying Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows fall 81% in three sessions from the year's record day
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What happened

  • Daily inflows fell to $714.75 million on Tuesday and $347 million on Wednesday before Thursday's total, three shrinking sessions in a row.
  • Monday's record, set on September 21, was the biggest day for the funds since early October 2025 and came as Bitcoin briefly topped $87,000.
  • IBIT drew roughly $1.35 billion over the six sessions, close to half the category's inflows, according to Farside Investors data cited by Cointelegraph.
  • Fidelity's FBTC added $12.86 million on Thursday, while WisdomTree's BTCW lost $4.02 million, the only fund with an outflow.
  • Glider chief executive Brian Huang said bitcoin futures open interest is back to May levels, with about $3.3 billion on Hyperliquid's BTC perpetuals.

Why it matters

  • What doesn't add up contradiction Cryptopolitan puts Bitcoin's gain over the week at about 3.6%, while Cointelegraph, citing CoinGecko, puts it at about 8%. So it is unsettled whether six days of buying followed a modest move or a sharp rally.
  • What it limits constraint Huang said a negative basis with rising open interest means new shorts. With futures below spot, buying ETF shares and shorting futures against them costs the spread, so hedged carry trades are a weak explanation for the week's inflows.
  • Who's exposed exposure Eleven issuers are splitting a shrinking remainder of the money, so a break in the streak would reach their books before it reached BlackRock's.

Each session gave back a large share of the one before it. Tuesday's total was about 28% below Monday's, Wednesday's about 51% below Tuesday's, and Thursday's about 45% below Wednesday's [16]. Those four sessions add up to roughly $2.25 billion, so the first two days of the streak, starting on September 17, brought in at least $548 million between them [2][17].

Against the size of the funds, the whole run is small. The 12 funds ended Thursday with about $108.92 billion of combined net assets. That puts Thursday's inflow at roughly 0.18% of the base and the six-day streak at about 2.6% [9][18]. They traded $2.27 billion of shares on the day, and net new money came to about 8% of that turnover [19].

The slowdown is uneven across issuers. IBIT averaged about $225 million a session over the streak, and its $162.63 million on Thursday was about 72% of that pace [3][15]. The other eleven funds took about $28 million between them on Thursday [13]. Over the six sessions they had averaged roughly $242 million a day, so Thursday ran at about 12% of their own pace [14].

The flow data are reported fund by fund and do not identify the buyers, so they cannot show whether institutions in particular are pulling back [3][5]. The decline does line up with price. Bitcoin has slipped to about $83,800 from Monday's brief move above $87,000, a fall of roughly 3.7% [20][22].

Flows could keep following price and climb again if Bitcoin recovers. The streak could break, with the first outflows coming from funds already running near zero. Or IBIT could keep absorbing new money while the other eleven go flat. In my view the evidence fits the third path best: a bid that is slowing and narrowing into one fund while net money still arrives [15][14]. The counter-thesis is that Monday, the largest day since early October 2025, was an outlier, and a decline from an outlier says little about a trend [8]. The narrowing view is wrong if IBIT's daily figure drops toward the others' pace, or if the other eleven recover while IBIT slows.

What to watch

  • Whether Friday's flows turn negative, ending the streak at six sessions, and which funds carry the first outflow.
  • Whether Bitcoin retakes $87,000 and daily inflows climb back toward Tuesday's $714.75 million, a sign that flows are following price.
  • Whether futures open interest keeps rising while the basis stays negative, the pattern Huang reads as new shorts.

Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence64
Adoption60
Hype gap+5
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence62
Why these scores

Claim ledger

Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.

  1. [1]

    US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in approximately $191 million of net inflows on Thursday, their sixth straight day of net inflows.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  2. [2]

    The six-day streak totals more than $2.8 billion; Thursday's tally was the smallest since the streak's first day, September 17.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  3. [3]

    BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $162.63 million of Thursday's inflows.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  4. [4]

    IBIT, the largest US spot Bitcoin ETF by assets, attracted roughly $1.35 billion during the six-session streak, nearly half of the funds' combined inflows, according to Farside Investors data.

    Reported Supported Source: Cointelegraph, citing Farside InvestorsView cited source
  5. [5]

    On Thursday Fidelity's FBTC added $12.86 million, Morgan Stanley's MSBT $10.16 million, Franklin's EZBC $4.88 million and Bitwise's BITB $4.13 million; WisdomTree's BTCW was the only fund with outflows, at $4.02 million.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  6. [6]

    Monday's $999 million was the biggest single-day haul of 2026; Thursday's $191 million was 81% below it.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  7. [7]

    Tuesday took in $714.75 million and Wednesday $347 million, as demand fell for three sessions in a row.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  8. [8]

    Monday's record, set on September 21, was the biggest daily tally for US spot Bitcoin ETFs since early October 2025, and came as Bitcoin briefly topped $87,000.

    Reported Supported Source: CryptopolitanView cited source
  9. [9]

    The 12 funds had turnover of $2.27 billion on Thursday, and total combined net assets ended near $108.92 billion.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  10. [10]

    Brian Huang, co-founder and chief executive of Glider, said bitcoin futures open interest is back to May levels, with about $3.3 billion of it on Hyperliquid's BTC perpetuals.

    Reported Supported Source: Brian Huang, Glider, via CryptopolitanView cited source
  11. [11]

    Huang said a negative basis with increasing open interest indicates new shorts are being placed.

    Reported Supported Source: Brian Huang, Glider, via CryptopolitanView cited source
  12. [12]

    IBIT took about 85% of Thursday's net inflow.

    Derived Supported
  13. [13]

    The other eleven funds took about $28 million combined on Thursday.

    Derived Supported
  14. [14]

    Non-IBIT funds took roughly $1.45 billion over the streak, about $242 million a session; Thursday's $28 million was about 12% of that pace.

    Derived Supported
  15. [15]

    IBIT averaged about $225 million a session over the streak; Thursday's $162.63 million was about 72% of that pace.

    Derived Supported
  16. [16]

    Day-over-day declines: about 28% Monday to Tuesday, about 51% Tuesday to Wednesday, about 45% Wednesday to Thursday.

    Derived Supported
  17. [17]

    Monday to Thursday inflows sum to about $2.25 billion, so the streak's first two sessions contributed at least about $548 million.

    Derived Supported
  18. [18]

    Thursday's inflow was about 0.18% of combined net assets; the six-day streak was about 2.6%.

    Derived Supported
  19. [19]

    Thursday's net inflow was about 8% of the day's $2.27 billion turnover.

    Derived Supported
  20. [20]

    Bitcoin has since pulled back to about $83,800 and is still up about 3.6% over the week.

    Reported Contested Source: CryptopolitanView cited source
  21. [21]

    Bitcoin traded at $83,807, down 0.3% over 24 hours but up about 8% over the past seven days, according to CoinGecko.

    Reported Contested Source: Cointelegraph, citing CoinGeckoView cited source
  22. [22]

    Bitcoin's move from above $87,000 to about $83,800 is a fall of roughly 3.7%.

    Derived Contested

Sources

2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. cointelegraph.com

    1 article · September 25, 2026

    Bitcoin ETF inflows slow to $191M as six-day streak reaches $2.8B
  2. cryptopolitan.com

    1 article · September 25, 2026

    Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows run six days straight, but daily totals shrink for a third session

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