Bitcoin ETFs surpass $2.1b weekly inflows, whale accumulation mirrors 2020 rally

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund inflows are up more than 580% this week, with one analyst noting that whales are piling into Bitcoin at a pace similar to the 2020 rally.

Last week, inflows into the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $2.13 billion, following six consecutive days of positive inflows. This means weekly inflows into Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $2 billion for the first time since March 2024.

Total net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs reached $20.94 billion. This is a turning point in years for gold ETFs, according to Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas. Bitcoin products took less than a year to launch.

Weekly inflows into the ETFs peaked at $555.86 million on Oct. 14, but the pace slowed to $273.71 million on Oct. 18, according to SoSoValue data.

Neither fund saw negative flows in the last trading day, with ARK leading 21Shares’ ARKB. The recorded entries are as follows:

ARK 21Shares’ ARKB, $109.86 million, 7-day entry streak. BlackRock’s IBIT, $70.41 million, 5-day entry streak. Bitwise’s BITB is $35.96 million. VanEck’s HODL is $23.34 million. Fidelity’s FBTC, $18.0 million, 6-day entry streak. Invesco’s BTCO is $16.11 million. Franklin Templeton’s EZBC, Wisdom Tree’s BTCW, Grayscale’s GBTC and BTC, and Hashdex’s DEFI did not see any flows. Whale accumulation intensifies

Flows into Bitcoin (BTC) products this week indicate strong demand among retail and institutional investors, along with an interesting accumulation pattern among whales.

CryptoQuant writer Woominkyu pointed out on X that the Bitcoin whale rate on spot exchanges appears to be the same as it was in July 2020, right after the COVID crash. According to the chart he shared, a major rally has begun in Bitcoin, indicating that whales may be preparing for another long-term price increase. (See below.)

Spot currency whale rate for Bitcoin | Source: Woominkyu

A similar accumulation pattern was also observed among new whales by fellow analyst and CryptoQuant CEO Ki-Young Ju. Ju wrote in an Oct. 16 . (See below.)

New whale wallets now hold 1.97 million #Bitcoin.

They each have over 1,000 BTC and the average coin age is under 155 days, excluding exchanges and miners’ wallets, likely for storage purposes.

BTC balances are up 813% YTD, accounting for 9.3% of the total supply worth $132 billion today. pic.twitter.com/pxq0tcqMuW

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) 16 October 2024

Whales are often referred to as “smart money” because they tend to buy during market declines and ride out the ups and downs by using their deep pockets and strategic timing to make calculated moves. Because they often position themselves ahead of major price shifts, their actions can often signal where the market might go next.

While the increase in whale accumulation has sparked hopes of an impending recovery, some market analysts expect this bellwether to reach an all-time high, with the upcoming US presidential election as a potential catalyst.

Rogue trader Crypto Raven pointed out that polls show that Republican candidate Donald Trump is increasingly likely to win the November election; This could be the push BTC needs to reach new highs. As Raven puts it, “if everything goes this smoothly, we can aim for the moon.”

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan predicts that Bitcoin will reach six figures, driven not only by the upcoming elections but also by the increase in institutional demand and other macroeconomic factors.

At press time, the flagship cryptocurrency was trading at $68,280, up 8.5% last week.