US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $996M in weekly net inflows, the most since early January, powered by a $663.9M Friday surge as geopolitical de-escalation triggered a risk-on wave. Total ETF AUM crossed $101B for the first time. BlackRock IBIT alone added $269.3M Thursday — its best day in a month. The flows pushed YTD net inflows back within $80M of positive territory after months of outflows.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $996M in weekly net inflows, the most since early January, powered by a $663.9M Friday surge as geopolitical de-escalation triggered a risk-on wave. Total ETF AUM crossed $101B for the first time. BlackRock IBIT alone added $269.3M Thursday — its best day in a month. The flows pushed YTD net inflows back within $80M of positive territory after months of outflows.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $1 billion in net inflows over the week ending April 18, marking their strongest weekly performance since early January when inflows reached approximately $1.4 billion.
Friday alone saw $663.9 million in inflows — the largest single day of the week — following a geopolitical catalyst: Iran's foreign minister announced the Strait of Hormuz would remain open during the ongoing ceasefire, sending oil prices plunging 10% and risk assets surging.
The weekly flow breakdown:
This is the third straight week of meaningful inflows, building on:
The trend is accelerating. Inflows have grown 27% week-over-week.
BlackRock's IBIT remains the dominant force with $1.5B in YTD net inflows and $64.3B in cumulative net inflows since launch. Morgan Stanley's MSBT also continued its streak with $103M cumulative inflows, surpassing WisdomTree despite launching just two weeks ago.
The $101B AUM milestone matters because it represents a new high-water mark for spot Bitcoin ETF assets. Despite Bitcoin being roughly 40% below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,000, ETF assets continue to grow — meaning inflows are outpacing price declines.
The YTD figure being just $80M from positive territory is significant. If the trend continues, next week could mark the first time in 2026 that cumulative spot BTC ETF inflows are net positive year-to-date. That would be a powerful signal for institutional Bitcoin demand.
Morgan Stanley digital asset head Amy Oldenburg told Bloomberg this week that MSBT was the bank's best-performing ETF launch ever, adding: "This is just the first of a long roadmap of new products."
The OCC granted Circle final approval to establish Circle National Trust, a federally supervised national trust bank, placing the world's second-largest stablecoin (USDC, $73.2B) under direct federal banking oversight — with reserve management as a planned future capability.
Morgan Stanley amended SEC filings for its proposed Ethereum (MSSE) and Solana (MSOL) ETFs with a 0.14% management fee — the lowest in crypto ETFs — while offering staking yield (50-80% ETH, up to 100% SOL). Its Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), launched just April 8, already holds $364M.
SWIFT announced its blockchain-based shared ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 Tier 1 banks across six continents preparing to pilot live tokenized deposit transactions. The network — used by 11,500+ financial institutions and moving the equivalent of global GDP every 2-3 days — built the ledger in just nine months, marking the most significant mainstream blockchain deployment by traditional finance infrastructure.