Ethereum ETFs Take $226M in a Day, Almost Matching Bitcoin's Haul

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded their strongest day in 10 months on Thursday, taking in $225.8 million and extending a buying run that has now lasted nine consecutive sessions.

The last day of net outflows was August 11, Farside Investors data shows, with August 14 the only session since to register no net flow either way. The nine trading days from August 17 have brought in $1.42 billion, and Thursday's total was the largest since October 28 last year.

BlackRock has driven most of it. Its ETHA fund has taken $1.02 billion over the nine sessions, or 72% of the category's total, and has not recorded a single day without net buying. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham flagged the streak on Thursday, counting $889.8 million across the first eight days, a figure that matches Farside's tally exactly.

Fidelity's FETH has been the second-largest taker, and had its best day of the run on Thursday at $56.2 million. BlackRock's staked Ethereum product, ETHB, added $20.7 million that same day.

The gap with Bitcoin has narrowed to almost nothing. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took $242.3 million on Thursday, just $16.5 million more than their Ethereum counterparts. On August 17, the first day of both runs, the Ethereum funds took a tenth of what Bitcoin's did.

Ethereum traded around $2,477 on Friday, down 0.5% over the past 24 hours but up by around 5% on the week, according to CoinGecko data.

What is pulling the money in

The buying is coming from outside crypto, according to Max Shannon, senior research associate at Bitwise Europe. He put this week's take at $713.6 million, matching Farside's count, and said the flows had "likely been driven by the marked rise in Cross Asset Risk Appetite," the firm's measure of risk appetite in traditional markets.

Ethereum has still lagged Bitcoin and the larger altcoins over the same stretch. Shannon called that "warranted given its strength since the broader crypto rally started on the 19 August, and especially over the past couple of months." Capital has since rotated into "higher-beta blue-chip names such as ZEC, XRP, SOL and HYPE," which have outperformed, he said, with Bitwise's dispersion index rising this week and "suggesting the market is being driven by a broader set of narratives."

Ethereum is currently hovering around its 200-week moving average for the first time since it broke support in late January, Shannon noted, calling it an "important level to hold" that could shape short-to-medium-term momentum. He added that investors picked up roughly 1.1 million ETH around that level, a block that "could act as temporary resistance if those holders sell into strength."

The flows may not be enough on their own. "Given flows are reflexive and momentum-based, a pick-up in spot volume is needed for the market to sustain its footing," Shannon said, noting that spot volume has softened to its 16th percentile year-on-year since the rally began on August 19.