U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds finally caught a break on December 30th, pulling in $355 million after seven straight days of outflows. The turnaround was led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which attracted $143.75 million—its best day in two weeks. ARK Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB wasn’t far behind with $109.56 million, while Fidelity’s fund added $78.59 million. Even smaller players like Bitwise, VanEck, and Grayscale’s converted Bitcoin Trust saw money come back in, suggesting investors across the board were ready to buy again.
This came after a rough patch that saw roughly $1.12 billion leave these funds over the previous week. The worst day was December 26th, when $275.9 million walked out the door. Most analysts chalk it up to a mix of holiday trading (when volumes dry up), year-end portfolio adjustments, and people taking profits after Bitcoin couldn’t quite push past the $90,000 level that everyone’s been watching.
December Still Ends in the Red Despite Late Rally
Even with that late-month surge, December finished negative overall for Bitcoin ETFs—down about $744 million for the month. That’s on top of the $3.4 billion that flowed out in November. Between December 18th and 29th, seven out of eight trading days saw withdrawals. Still, the big picture looks solid: since these ETFs launched, they’ve accumulated $56.96 billion in net inflows, with total assets sitting at $114.44 billion—roughly 6.5% of Bitcoin’s entire market value.
The rebound day showed healthier signs too. Trading volume hit $3.57 billion, almost double the day before, suggesting that investors who’d been sitting on the sidelines were ready to jump back in. People in the market are saying the reversal came from a few things: tax-loss selling season wrapping up, the Federal Reserve meeting being digested, and fears of a prolonged holiday slump fading away.
BlackRock continues to dominate the space. Its IBIT fund alone holds $68 billion—about 3.9% of all Bitcoin in circulation. Fidelity and ARK 21Shares are distant seconds. Interestingly, Grayscale’s GBTC saw its first small inflow in weeks, which has some people thinking its discount to net asset value might be stabilizing.
What This Means for Crypto Heading Into the New Year
Bitcoin’s price has been stuck between $86,700 and $88,000, creating a tight trading range that suggests people are taking a breather after failing to break through $90,000 earlier in the week. With less than four months until the next halving event—when Bitcoin’s mining rewards get cut in half—even modest inflows can matter psychologically. These ETFs now control enough Bitcoin to represent several months’ worth of future mining supply.
Ethereum ETFs Show Different Pattern
While Bitcoin grabbed the headlines, Ethereum ETFs quietly added $67.84 million the same day, bringing their total inflows to $12.40 billion and pushing assets under management near $18 billion—about 5% of Ethereum’s market cap. BlackRock’s ETHA is still the leader, but most of December 30th’s money went into Grayscale’s ETHE, suggesting bargain hunters are starting to circle products trading at discounts.
The relative stability in Ethereum flows—compared to Bitcoin’s wild swings—tells an interesting story. Investors seem to be treating ETH as a different kind of bet, more tied to the staking ecosystem than straight-up market risk.
Looking at both Bitcoin and Ethereum together, this twin rebound might be the first sign that liquidity is getting back to normal after the holiday squeeze. Whether this holds up or it’s just a brief pause before January’s economic data hits will likely set the tone for crypto markets as we head into 2025’s halving cycle.
