Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their biggest daily inflow in three months on January 5, attracting nearly $695 million. These positive flows come as institutional demand increases sharply at the beginning of 2026.
The rise was led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (ibit), which attracted $371.9 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $191.2 million, according to SoSoValue data.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Institutional flows mark a record day for Bitcoin ETFs
A strong recovery in institutional demand has already been registered at the beginning of 2026, as witnessed on Friday. Revenue worth $671 million.
Strong flows represent movement across the board in all ETFs rather than a single allocation. bitwise’s bitb added about $38.5 million, ark’s arkb brought in $36 million, while Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie and VanEck reported positive net flows.
Of note, the reports said It’s the old gbtc at Grayscale The flow recorded zero during the day. This represents a major change, after the cumulative withdrawal of more than $25 billion since then Convert it into a trust structure.
Business activity recovered with flows, indicating renewed institutional commitment after a quieter December.
Simultaneous buying appears to be a balance of investment cards rather than chasing speculative momentum, with Bitcoin holding a level above $90,000 throughout the session.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Institutional appetite also extends beyond Bitcoin. The Whale Insider account reported that BlackRock customers purchased 31,737 Ethereum (eth), with an approximate value of $100.2 million.
Ethereum continues to accumulate alongside spot exposure to Bitcoin, with ETH spot ETF inflows reaching $168.13 million on Friday.
The move signals that large allocators are taking their positions across multiple digital assets as cryptocurrencies are increasingly integrated into long-term investment strategies.
Sponsored
Sponsored
BlackRock reclassifies cryptocurrencies as financial infrastructure, not as a trading tool
The timing of the ETF inflows coincides with BlackRock issuing new investment forecasts. The asset manager is rebranding cryptocurrencies as a foundation of the global financial system rather than an experimental asset class.
in Report BlackRock has argued that the role of cryptocurrencies is moving away from speculative trading towards infrastructure, specifically:
- Make adjustments
- Liquidity channels, and
- Encoding.
Stablecoins have a prominent place in this thesis. BlackRock described it as A bridge between traditional finance and digital liquidity. They stated that in some jurisdictions, stablecoins backed by the dollar could replace local currencies.
The company warned that this trend is already putting pressure on banks as deposits and returns shift towards native crypto products.
Sponsored
Sponsored
The ETF approvals themselves are framed as institutional confirmation rather than regulatory curiosity. BlackRock said there is The rapid growth of cryptocurrency ETFs It represents a de facto acceptance of digital assets by capital allocators around the world. They proactively integrate them into standard portfolio construction frameworks.
The report also placed AI at the center of today’s macro transformation. drive AI-driven changes in energy demandproductivity and capital distribution to accelerate structural transformations in markets.
BlackRock has noted that traditional market cycles are now breaking down, making for the concentration of capital and long-term thematic exposures.
In this context, BlackRock warned against the “illusion of diversification”, noting that the same macroeconomic forces are increasingly driving many traditional assets.
The company suggested that digital assets are emerging as new investment alternatives precisely because they work through different avenues.
ETF flows on January 5 reflected this thinking in real time. With participation that includes almost all major issuers and no renewed bleeding of GBTC, the data points to a more mature ETF market where institutions are allocated more thoughtfully.
