Bitcoin keeps whipsawing around $77,000, and ETF investors are doing the same

US spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to inflows Wednesday, extending a four-session pattern of investors repeatedly switching between buying and selling.

Data from SoSoValue shows that the funds attracted $101.2 million on Sept. 2 after losing $236.5 million a day earlier. That followed $216.7 million in inflows on Aug. 31 and $201.9 million in withdrawals on Aug. 28, leaving the group without sustained direction since its previous inflow streak ended.

Bitcoin’s price has been similarly unsettled. BTC closed Aug. 27 around $80,268 before falling to $77,821 the following day, recovering to $78,553 on Aug. 31 and slipping back toward $77,300 by Sept. 2.

Despite this market choppiness, Bitcoin ETFs have attracted more than $3 billion in fresh capital over the past 30 days. This has contributed to BTC price rising by 22% during this reporting period.

Ether, XRP and Solana break lengthy inflow streaks

The uneven Bitcoin flows contrast with a much cleaner trend elsewhere in the crypto ETF market, where Ethereum, XRP and Solana funds continued attracting capital even during Bitcoin’s weaker sessions.

However, that changed on Wednesday when the major altcoin products registered their first outflows in nearly two weeks.

Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded about $48 million in net outflows, snapping 12 consecutive trading days of inflows that had pulled in roughly $1.62 billion.

The streak had pushed cumulative net inflows into Ethereum funds to about $13.03 billion before Wednesday’s reversal.

XRP ETFs also turned negative, posting $7.2 million of withdrawals after 11 straight sessions of inflows. Investors had added roughly $170 million during that run, lifting cumulative XRP ETF inflows to about $1.68 billion.

Solana funds followed with approximately $6 million of outflows, ending their own 11-session streak after attracting about $193 million. Cumulative net inflows remain around $1.34 billion.

The simultaneous breaks ended a period in which the three altcoin fund groups had maintained steady buying even as Bitcoin ETF demand swung from one session to the next.

Newer products did not pick up the slack. Hyperliquid, BNB and several other altcoin ETF groups registered zero net flows Wednesday.

The reversals remain small compared with the money accumulated during the preceding streaks, particularly for ETH. The daily figures also do not establish that investors pulled money from altcoin ETFs and redirected it into Bitcoin.

However, they leave the two sides of the crypto ETF market in markedly different positions. Bitcoin has spent four sessions oscillating between inflows and outflows while its price struggles around $77,000. ETH, XRP and Solana, meanwhile, have just lost the uninterrupted ETF demand that had distinguished them during that volatility.

The next sessions will show whether altcoin buying quickly resumes or Bitcoin’s return to inflows marks the beginning of a broader shift in ETF demand.