The 11 US-based spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have experienced two consecutive months of net inflows, indicating renewed interest from institutional investors in the top cryptocurrency. However, a broader perspective reveals a more subdued recovery than suggested by monthly headlines. Over the past two months, ETFs have attracted $3.29 billion in investor funds, according to SoSoValue data. May began positively, with ETFs registering a net inflow of $629 million.
This has increased cumulative net inflows since January 2024 to $58.72 billion, still short of the record $61.19 billion in October, when bitcoin's spot price reached its all-time high of over $126,000. The gap indicates that while demand has recovered, it has not yet offset the outflows 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 serves as a useful reality check, highlighting that the recovery in ETF flows is genuine but incomplete, and its future momentum remains to be seen.