Physical Bitcoin and Ether tokens for a story about U.S. spot crypto ETF inflows.

Bitcoin ETF Volume Hit a 21-Month Low While Ether Funds Took the Bigger Inflow

By Isaac • July 25, 2026 1:19 pm • Comments

U.S. spot crypto funds delivered a split verdict last week. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds generated about $8.05 billion in trading volume, their lowest total for a complete five-session week since October 2024.

They still finished in positive territory, but only barely, with about $33.8 million in net inflows.

Spot Ether funds moved in the other direction. They collected roughly $103.9 million, more than three times the Bitcoin funds’ weekly net inflow, and extended their positive run to three consecutive weeks.

Trending: The EU Put HTX on Its Russia Sanctions List. One New Power Reaches Far Beyond an Exchange

That combination makes the week more revealing than either total alone. Activity around the much larger Bitcoin products slowed, late selling nearly erased their early gains, and Ether funds attracted more new money from a far smaller asset base.

The Block reported that Bitcoin ETF volume fell 14% from the prior week’s $9.37 billion. The $8.05 billion total was the lowest for a full five-session week since the week ending October 11, 2024.

Net flows were much less dramatic than that decline in activity, with the group holding onto a modest weekly inflow. The path to that small gain was unusually uneven.

Bitcoin funds drew about $499.1 million during the first three sessions, then gave back $225.2 million on Thursday and another $240.1 million on Friday. Nearly all of the week’s early accumulation disappeared in two sessions.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known by the ticker IBIT, ended the week with about $95.5 million in net outflows. Its combined losses over Thursday and Friday reached roughly $414.7 million, showing how strongly the late-week reversal weighed on the largest product in the group.

Ether funds posted a different pattern. Their $103.9 million weekly inflow marked a third straight positive week and a second consecutive week in which they outperformed Bitcoin funds on net flows.

BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, or ETHA, supplied about $96.3 million of that total.

One week does not establish a permanent institutional rotation from Bitcoin to Ether. The Bitcoin funds still hold roughly $77.82 billion in net assets, compared with about $10.17 billion for the Ether products.

Bitcoin remains the deeper and more established U.S. spot crypto ETF market by a wide margin.

The difference in scale is precisely why the latest flows stand out. Ether funds pulled in more than three times as much new money while holding about 13% of the net assets.

Over the past three weeks, they attracted roughly $293.8 million, close to the Bitcoin funds’ $306.9 million during the same period.

Trading volume shows a similar, though less dramatic, compression of the gap. Ether ETF volume reached about $2.78 billion for the week, equal to roughly 35% of Bitcoin ETF volume despite the much smaller asset base.

That ratio points to heavier recent activity in Ether products relative to their size.

Volume and net flows measure different behavior. Volume records how much changed hands, while net flows estimate whether capital entered or left the funds.

Bitcoin’s lower volume therefore cannot be treated as an outflow by itself, and Ether’s stronger inflow does not mean its market suddenly became larger.

The Thursday reversal is important because it changed the character of the week. Through Wednesday, the Bitcoin funds appeared to be building another solid inflow.

The final two sessions reduced that gain to an amount that is small relative to the group’s asset base.

The recent improvement also sits inside a difficult year. Bitcoin funds remained down about $5.23 billion in net flows for the year through Friday, while Ether funds were down approximately $1.15 billion.

Three positive Ether weeks have repaired part of the damage, but they have not erased the longer run of withdrawals.

July offers a cleaner view of the near-term change. Ether funds had taken in about $337.7 million during the month through Friday, compared with approximately $234 million for Bitcoin funds.

That is a meaningful monthly lead for Ether, even though it remains a short window.

Concentration is another reason to stay measured. ETHA accounted for nearly all of the Ether group’s weekly inflow.

A broader move across several issuers would provide stronger evidence that demand is expanding throughout the category rather than gathering in one flagship fund.

The next few sessions can clarify whether last week’s split was a brief allocation adjustment or the start of a more durable change in relative demand. Bitcoin fund volume, the durability of Ether inflows, and participation beyond IBIT and ETHA will provide better evidence than a single weekly comparison.

For now, the defensible conclusion is narrower: Ether products had the stronger week for new money, while Bitcoin products lost momentum after a promising start. Confirmation would require Ether inflows to persist across multiple issuers while Bitcoin’s late-week withdrawals continue or its volume remains near the current low.

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

 

Search ProCoinNews