Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have had a volatile begin to 2026, with sharp swings in investor demand despite money flowing into traditional ETFs at an unusually rapid rate.
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs (BTC) recorded $753 million in inflows for the second straight day on Tuesday after a four-day losing streak, in accordance with data from Farside Investors.
Bitcoin ETFs have collected a complete of $660 million in net inflows up to now in 2026 as demand for the funds continued to fluctuate.
Bitcoin ETF inflows, in USD million, Source: Farside Investors
Traditional ETFs, alternatively, have attracted $46 billion in the primary six days of 2026, an “unusually high figure to start out the yr,” in accordance with Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
“ETFs have raised $46 billion in the primary six days of the yr, unusually high initially of the yr, and are at $158 billion for the month, about 4 times the norm,” the analyst wrote in a Monday X post.
Source: Eric Balchunas
The divergence shows that ETF investors are actively deploying capital, but prefer to speculate it in funds tied to traditional investments fairly than crypto ETFs with the next perceived risk profile.
According to SoSoValue, demand for Bitcoin ETFs has declined over the past six months from monthly net inflows of $6 billion in July 2025 to outflows of $1.09 billion in December.
Bitcoin ETF inflows, monthly all-time chart. Source: SosoValue
Spot Ether (ETH) raised $130 million on Tuesday, reaching $240 million in total inflows up to now in 2026, in accordance with Farside Investors.
Spot Solana (SOL) ETFs continued their unbroken winning streak, recording $67 million in positive net inflows year-to-date.
Bitcoin financing firms are stepping in to fill the demand gap
While the dearth of ETF demand is a worrying sign for Bitcoin price, blockchain data suggests that Bitcoin financing firms are stepping in to fill this gap with regular monthly accumulation.
Corporate digital asset treasuries (DATs) have added a net 260,000 Bitcoins to their balance sheets prior to now six months, surpassing the estimated 82,000 coins mined in the identical period.
According to crypto analytics platform Glassnode, this equates to monthly business investments of around 260,000 BTC, price about $25 billion.
Source: Glassnode
Unlike public finance firms, the industry's leading traders by returns, considered “smart money,” were still betting on Bitcoin's decline, totaling $122 million in net short positions, in accordance with crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
Smart money traders, perpetual positions on the Hyperliquid exchange. Source: Nansen
However, the cohort was net-short, betting on the decline of most top cryptocurrencies, excluding Ether, XRP (XRP), the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun token (PUMP), and Zcash (ZEC).
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