Bitcoin ETF Flows After the Fed: +$424M in Three Days

Are Bitcoin ETFs seeing inflows after the Fed decision?

Yes, so far. US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in +$110.3M on Monday, +$176.0M on Tuesday and +$137.3M on Wednesday, the day of the Fed's decision, for +$423.7M in three sessions, per SoSoValue data. The day-by-day table is kept current in Bitcoin ETF flows this week.

That buying came while the price went the other way. Bitcoin slipped under $80,000 on Monday as traders cut risk before the meeting, according to CoinDesk. It traded just above $81,000 when the Fed held rates on Wednesday, then fell 1.4% to about $80,100 on Thursday after a low near $79,600, as weak Samsung and Alphabet earnings hit tech stocks and the Fed's split vote revived talk of a December hike (CoinDesk).

Three green days do not erase the week before. The trailing five sessions are still net −$349.8M, because last Thursday's −$635.5M, the biggest daily outflow since June, and Friday's −$137.9M are still in the window.

What did the Fed decide, and why does it matter for Bitcoin ETFs?

The Federal Open Market Committee held its target range at 3.75% to 4%, as markets expected, CNBC and CoinDesk reported. The vote was 10–2: Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of a quarter-point hike. Chair Kevin Warsh declined to signal what comes in December (CoinDesk).

That matters for flows because rate expectations set the cost of holding a non-yielding asset. A spot Bitcoin ETF pays no income, so higher short-term rates raise the opportunity cost of owning one against a money-market fund. Two dissents for a hike tell investors the next move is more likely up than down.

The last hike is a useful comparison. When the Fed raised rates on September 17, its first increase since 2023, crypto rallied through it (CoinDesk). Pre-Tick's flow data shows +$159.5M that day, +$433.0M on September 18 and +$999.0M the following Monday. Inflows have followed both the September hike and this hold, so the decision itself has not pushed money out of the funds.

Why is IBIT taking inflows while other Bitcoin ETFs lose money?

The headline number hides a very uneven split. Through October 28, spot Bitcoin ETFs are only +$111.2M for October, with 12 of 20 sessions green. By fund, per SoSoValue data:

This week is no different: IBIT took +$397.8M of the +$423.7M, FBTC added +$24.5M on Tuesday, and Bitwise's BITB took +$1.3M on Wednesday. Every other fund was flat.

One likely reason is liquidity. Institutions moving large amounts favor the fund with the deepest options market and tightest spread, and that is IBIT. Flow data cannot show who is redeeming FBTC, ARKB or GBTC shares. It only shows that IBIT is taking money while most other funds lose it.

What it means for investors

For an IBIT holder, steady creations do not change the share price directly. The fund tracks bitcoin through its NAV, so the 1.4% Thursday drop shows up whether money is coming in or not. What creations do change is liquidity: more shares and more authorized-participant activity keep IBIT's spread to NAV tight, which matters most at the open after a weekend or an overnight move.

The concentration is the number to watch. If the next green streak spreads to FBTC and ARKB, that would suggest broader demand. If it stays almost entirely in IBIT while bitcoin trades near $80,000 into a possible December hike, it looks more like large allocators rebalancing into one fund. Pre-Tick's flows table updates each fund after every session, and IBIT vs FBTC shows how the two largest funds compare on fee, size and tracking. In October so far, the gap between them is +$1.15B against −$564.1M. This is market analysis, not investment advice.