Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) recorded net inflows of $116.5 million over the past week, with Friday alone contributing $41 million, according to data from Farside Investors. However, the fund's performance was overshadowed by BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which captured a staggering 80.1% of all inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin products during the same period.
Data from Farside reveals that IBIT and FBTC together accounted for 93.6% of total net inflows into bitcoin funds for the week ending August 7. Specifically, IBIT pulled in $693.5 million, while FBTC added $116.5 million, representing 13.5% of the category. Other products, including Bitwise's BITB and ARK 21Shares' ARKB, saw smaller inflows of $25.9 million and $50.8 million respectively, while the remaining products experienced net outflows of $21.4 million.
Bitcoin's price hovered around $64,950 on Sunday morning, as crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) closed for the weekend after their Friday session. Spot cryptocurrency trading continues uninterrupted, but the weekly flow data highlights a clear concentration in the two largest funds.
The weekly total of $865.3 million (as reported by Farside) or $853.5 million (per SoSoValue) marked the strongest week for bitcoin fund inflows since April. Yet trading volumes painted a more subdued picture: turnover in bitcoin-related products declined by 9% to $8.19 billion, the second-weakest full week since October 2024. This suggests that inflows were driven by deliberate allocation rather than speculative frenzy.
Fidelity's Ethereum fund (FETH) also saw notable relative inflows, with $24.2 million entering the fund, equivalent to 2.65% of its estimated assets under management. In contrast, FBTC's inflows represented only 1.04% of its AUM. However, FETH remains significantly smaller, with an estimated $913.9 million in assets versus FBTC's $11.16 billion.
On-chain activity added another layer of complexity. An unverified transfer of 50,000 ether, worth approximately $95.73 million, was detected from an address suspected to be linked to Fidelity. The funds were moved to another wallet, but the purpose remains unclear. This transaction was nearly four times FETH's weekly inflow, yet it was not confirmed as a fund creation or redemption. Similarly, a late-July consolidation of 260,000 ether, valued at nearly $500 million, was attributed to Fidelity wallets by third-party analytics, but its connection to ETP flows remains speculative.
Analysts have noted that the inflow streak following the Coldcard hack suggests a possible shift toward regulated products, but ether products also saw their strongest week since April, complicating the narrative that security concerns are bitcoin-specific. Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg Intelligence highlighted the correlation, while Jasper De Maere of Wintermute cautioned that confirmation is needed before calling a lasting rebound.
Investors will watch Monday's first flow update to see if Friday's FBTC momentum continues. Additionally, July's consumer inflation data is due Wednesday at 08:30 EDT, with producer prices following Thursday. These figures could influence market sentiment and crypto flows.
Both FBTC and FETH are designated as crypto ETPs, not traditional ETFs, meaning retail investors cannot redeem shares for underlying coins. Authorized participants, however, can create or redeem shares with cash or cryptocurrency, providing a link between fund flows and on-chain activity.
As the market digests these mixed signals, the concentration of flows in IBIT and FBTC underscores the dominance of major players in the crypto ETP space, while the unresolved ether transfers highlight the opacity that still surrounds institutional crypto movements.
