Demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs has surged to a six-month high, yet Bitcoin futures contract volumes remain relatively low. This subdued activity in futures could be contributing to the current price constraints for BTC.

Crypto analysis firm Glassnode noted in an October 23 market report that daily trading volumes across all futures contracts stand at $35 billion, which is relatively subdued compared to the elevated volumes observed during the market's peak in March.
 

A "significant impulse" is absent among futures traders

Daily volumes of futures contracts—agreements to buy or sell Bitcoin at a future date—are currently around 50% of what they were after Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $73,679 in March, which saw volumes exceeding $80 billion per day.

The last time futures volume neared $80 billion was at the beginning of August, when Bitcoin's price fell 22% over eight days, hitting $53,991 on August 6.

Glassnode noted that "there has not yet been a significant surge in trading activity, suggesting a greater reliance on single trade basis strategies and arbitrage positions within the futures markets."
 

Bitcoin ETF inflows surpass $3b in October

In the past week, inflows into the 12 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds approached $1 billion, with four days of positive flows recorded. Most of these inflows came from BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest ETF by net assets, which is now close to $24 billion in total inflows since its launch.

Despite the strong inflows this week, the previous week was even more bullish for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Beginning with $555.86 million on October 14, these funds saw a five-day streak of inflows totaling over $2.13 billion. This marked the first time since March 2024 that weekly inflows into Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $2 billion.


Following the strong inflows into the investment products over the past two weeks, the 12 Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed over $3.07 billion in inflows in October.
 

Bitcoin ETF demand has hit six-month high

Demand for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is skyrocketing, exceeding all expectations.

According to Bloomberg, out of the 575 ETFs launched this year, 14 of the top 30 are new Bitcoin or Ethereum funds, with the top four positions held by Bitcoin funds. Over the past four years, among the 1,800 ETFs that have begun trading, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust stands out as the largest by a significant margin in terms of inflows.

On October 25, Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, highlighted in a post on X that the 30-day momentum indicator for spot Bitcoin ETF demand has reached a six-month high, a level last seen around the Bitcoin halving in April.

Additionally, net flows into these products amounted to 65,962 BTC over the past 30 days, according to Ju.

This surge in demand is primarily driven by retail investors, with Ju noting that large investors only accounted for about 20% of all U.S.-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Nevertheless, the uptick in demand could soon see the total Bitcoin held in the 12 offerings surpass 1 million Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas. 
 

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