Spot Bitcoin ETFs took in almost $1 billion on Monday, the largest single day in eleven months.
That pushed the funds’ cumulative 2026 flows positive for the first time since April. The total now stands at about $320 million.
Eight months of redemptions, cancelled out in a session.
What $320 Million Looks Like Up Close
The day itself was substantial. Roughly $998.9 million arrived across the US spot Bitcoin funds, the ninth largest single-day figure on record, with BlackRock’s IBIT taking $381.4 million, the Ark and 21Shares product $289.1 million, and Fidelity’s FBTC $238.8 million. Spot ether funds took $270 million on the same day, their best since October last year.
The cumulative picture is thinner. About $4.6 billion has entered these funds since 19 August, according to Bloomberg data. The year’s net total is roughly $320 million. The gap between those two figures implies something close to $4.3 billion of redemptions over the preceding eight months, which five weeks of buying has now roughly offset.
Set $320 million against a $2.93 trillion total crypto market and it reads closer to a rounding error than a reallocation.
The Fed Is Moving the Other Way
On 16 September the Federal Reserve raised its target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4.00%, from 3.50% to 3.75%, in a unanimous 12-0 vote.
The projections that came with it were harder than the decision itself. Officials lifted their year-end 2026 median to 4.1% from 3.8% in June, and their 2027 median to 4.1% from 3.6%. Sixteen of nineteen participants expect at least one further increase this year. The Fed’s own estimate for core PCE inflation sits at 3.4%, against a 2% target.
Chair Kevin Warsh was direct about it. “Inflation is too high and has been for too long,” he said.
CME FedWatch pricing now puts an October increase at about 75% and December at roughly 59%. The next decision lands on 27 and 28 October.
The Price Has Already Reacted
Bitcoin traded near $84,490 on Wednesday, down from a high of $87,397 on Monday, having started the previous week in the mid-$70,000s.
Liquidations over the past day ran to $348.3 million, of which $270.9 million were long positions against $77.4 million short. Positioning was crowded one way, and it was the leveraged buyers who paid for the reversal. The Fear and Greed Index reads 73, in greed territory.
“While there is no single clear catalyst, the move appears to reflect a combination of renewed risk appetite, strong spot ETF demand and some short covering,” said Min Jung of Presto Research.
Short covering is not the same as conviction, and neither is a single day of flows.
