Following two consecutive months of net inflows, the 11 U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have demonstrated a resurgence of interest from institutions in the top cryptocurrency, with $79,854.07 being the current price of BTC. Upon closer examination, however, the recovery appears less substantial than what is suggested by the monthly trends. Over the past two months, ETFs have attracted a total of $3.29 billion in investments, as per the data from SoSoValue. The month of May started positively, with ETFs seeing a net inflow of $629 million on the first day of trading.
This has resulted in cumulative net inflows of $58.72 billion since their launch in January 2024, still short of the record high of $61.19 billion achieved in October, the month when bitcoin's spot price reached its all-time high of over $126,000. This disparity indicates that while demand has bounced back, it still hasn't offset the outflows that occurred between November 2025 and February 2026. During those four months, investors withdrew $6.38 billion, coinciding with a sharp decline in bitcoin's price to nearly $60,000 from over $100,000.
This isn't necessarily a cause for concern but serves as a reality check on the current state of affairs compared to the peak of October's bullish sentiment. It signifies that the recovery in ETF flows is legitimate but not yet complete. The future trajectory of this trend remains to be seen in the coming days.