The 11 U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have posted two consecutive months of net inflows, signaling a resurgence of institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. However, a broader perspective reveals a more subdued recovery than suggested by monthly trends. Over the past two months, ETFs have attracted $3.29 billion in investor funds, according to SoSoValue data. May started positively, with a net inflow of $629 million on Friday, bringing the cumulative net inflows since January 2024 to $58.72 billion.
This figure still falls short of the record $61.19 billion achieved in October, a month that also saw bitcoin's spot price reach an all-time high of over $126,000. The current gap indicates that while demand has rebounded, it has not yet offset the outflows between November 2025 and February 2026, during which investors withdrew $6.38 billion as bitcoin's price plummeted to nearly $60,000 from over $100,000. This serves as a reality check, highlighting that the recovery in ETF flows, although genuine, remains incomplete. The future trajectory of this recovery remains to be seen.