I’ve been following a very interesting development in US Bitcoin ETFs these days. After five straight weeks of outflows, the funds started seeing heavy inflows—$1.1 billion in just three days. BlackRock’s IBIT pulled in much of that, with about $652 million. But what really caught my attention was Grayscale’s GBTC having its biggest inflow day since it became an ETF. It looks like the institutional market is coming back.

The data shows that spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US now have 1.29 million BTC under management. I mean, that puts the assets very close to the October peak, even though Bitcoin’s price is still about 45% below that record. It’s been holding steady around $77K this week. One good sign here is the Coinbase Premium Index returning to positive after 40 days in negative territory—this usually indicates that US institutional flows are returning as well.

What intrigues me most is that futures volume on the CME is falling while ETFs are receiving inflows. Since these funds allow basis trades (long positions in spot with short exposure in futures), this drop in futures suggests that the current flows are direct long positions, not only arbitrage strategies. It means there are people actually buying Bitcoin, not just running spread trades. In particular, GBTC is signaling renewed confidence in the market.