Nikolas Sargeant
TL;DR
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Global Head of ETFs at BNY Asset Servicing, Ben Slavin, revealed that Bitcoin ETF inflows have turned positive for the year.
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The analyst noted that even as ETFs bled amid depressed bitcoin prices and geopolitical and economic fears, outflows were comparatively muted.
Institutional Interest in Bitcoin Remains Strong
Spot Bitcoin ETFs are regaining momentum, with every major flow metric tracked by Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, turning positive for the first time in months.
In an X post on Thursday, Balchunas stated that every single rolling period they are tracking is now positive, a scenario they haven’t seen in months.
Bitcoin ETFs flows are (to quote Steve Winwood) back in the high life.. every single rolling period for we track is now positive, haven't seen that in months (IBIT's $3b is in Top 1% of all ETFs). Still tho, need a couple bil more to get back to breaking new ground in cumulative… pic.twitter.com/r1IEl5KtKg
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 23, 2026
The trend was reinforced by comments from Ben Slavin, global head of ETFs at BNY Asset Servicing, which oversees servicing for roughly 80% of the crypto ETF market.
While speaking with The Block, Slavin stated that,
“Flows have turned positive for the year. That's modestly so. But they’re in the green, not in the red.”
Combined one-day inflows across all 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $335 million as of Thursday morning, while monthly inflows climbed above $2.1 billion.
Year-to-date and three-month net inflows now stand at roughly $1.8 billion, reversing the heavy outflows that weighed on the market earlier in the year.
BlackRock’s IBIT Leads the Way
Leading the rebound is IBIT, the spot Bitcoin ETF managed by BlackRock. The fund accounted for approximately $246 million in single-day inflows and nearly $1.9 billion in monthly inflows alone.
Most spot Bitcoin ETFs are now back in positive territory, except for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which posted $16 million in one-day outflows and roughly $960 million in year-to-date outflows.
Market uncertainty earlier this year — including escalating tensions involving Iran and concerns over rising inflation — contributed to notable ETF outflows during March, particularly toward the end of the month.
Despite the recent recovery in flows, trading activity in Bitcoin ETFs remains below the levels seen last year. Total assets under management across spot Bitcoin ETFs currently sit near $125 billion, still below the record high of more than $162 billion reached in October 2025 when Bitcoin traded above $120,000.
Slavin noted that crypto ETF investors have shown unusual resilience compared to investors in many other risk assets.
He stated that,
“Granted, there were some outflows, but they were modest compared to the significant inflows. We didn't see the rush to the exits by retail or other investors in ETFs like maybe you would see in other risk assets when the market turns incredibly sour.”
The BNY exec added that part of that resilience may stem from the crypto market stabilizing after periods of volatility. Bitcoin has resumed its upward rally and is now trading above $77,000 per coin.
Slavin also argued that many investors increasingly view Bitcoin ETFs as long-term portfolio allocation tools rather than short-term speculative trades.
