The 11 U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have posted two consecutive months of net positive flows, signaling a renewed interest from institutional investors in the top cryptocurrency. However, a broader perspective reveals that the rebound is less pronounced than the monthly data suggests.
Over the past two months, these funds have attracted $3.29 billion in investments, according to SoSoValue. The month of May started on a strong note, with a net inflow of $629 million recorded on the first day of trading. This has brought the total net inflows since the launch in January 2024 to $58.72 billion, still short of the all-time high of $61.19 billion achieved in October, a month that also saw bitcoin's spot price reach its historic peak of over $126,000.
The existing gap indicates that while demand has bounced back, it has not yet offset the outflows that occurred between November 2025 and February 2026, during which investors withdrew $6.38 billion as bitcoin plummeted to nearly $60,000 from over $100,000. This is not necessarily a cause for concern, but rather a sobering reminder of the current state of affairs compared to the peak of optimism in October.
It underscores that the recovery in ETF flows, although genuine, remains incomplete, and it remains to be seen whether it will gather sufficient momentum in the coming days.