U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds just posted their quietest full trading week since October 2024, even as ether ETFs extended a run of stronger relative demand. The divergence in volume and flows is sharpening a question that has been building for weeks: is institutional capital rotating from the largest digital asset into its closest rival?
Spot bitcoin ETF trading volume totaled roughly $8.05 billion during the five sessions ending Friday, down 14% from $9.37 billion the prior week. That marks the lowest total for a full five-session week since the week ending October 11, 2024. The funds last posted lower weekly volume in April 2025, though that period contained only four trading days because U.S. markets were closed for Good Friday.
The decline reflects subdued trading activity as bitcoin remained near $64,000, well below the record highs reached late last year. The funds nevertheless finished the week with approximately $33.8 million in net inflows, extending their positive run to three weeks after ending a record eight-week outflow streak earlier this month.
That headline inflow figure, however, masks a sharp intraweek reversal. Bitcoin ETFs drew about $499.1 million over the first three sessions before investors withdrew $225.2 million on Thursday and another $240.1 million on Friday, erasing nearly all of the earlier gains. The result was the weakest weekly draw of the three positive weeks, following inflows of $75.7 million the previous week and $197.4 million the week before that.