U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded their largest inflows since October’s market upheaval, driven by heavy daily purchases in mid-January 2026. The surge reversed a string of early-January outflows and coincided with a sharp move in Bitcoin’s spot price and concentrated short-covering.
On January 14, daily net inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs were reported in a range from roughly $753.7M to $843.6M, with Bloomberg citing $760M. The following day, January 15, 2026, funds saw an additional inflow of about $840.6M, as reported by Farside Investors. By January 14, cumulative net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had surpassed $58.1B.
The flows mattered because they signaled renewed institutional allocation into crypto products and briefly pushed BTC above the $95,000 level, triggering sizable liquidations.
Analysts linked the reversal in flows to a mix of macro clarity and renewed institutional appetite. Nick Rick, Director of LVRG Research, said the activity represented a “resurgence of institutional demand,” framing the moves as aggressive reallocation after year‑end de‑risking. Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, attributed improved sentiment to softer-than-expected U.S. CPI data and progress on market-structure legislation in Washington.
Drivers, price reaction and regulatory context
Those legislative developments included a scheduled markup by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on a market-structure bill intended to offer greater clarity for digital assets. Concurrent legal developments — notably a Supreme Court review of tariffs imposed under the IEEPA — were flagged by market participants as potential macro variables that could affect risk appetite if the ruling has fiscal or trade implications.
Price dynamics followed the flows. Bitcoin rose above $95,000 and approached $96,951, which coincided with more than $290M of short Bitcoin positions being liquidated within 24 hours. Short-term ETF inflows correlated with momentum-driven price impact, though the research cited in reporting emphasized that ETF flows play a larger role at short horizons than over longer market cycles.
Portfolio managers and compliance teams should note the variability of data across vendors when measuring fund-level receipts, and maintain operational readiness for rapid NAV and custody updates following large daily flows. The episode also underlines the need for clear custody, settlement procedures and liquidity plans when ETFs drive concentrated spot purchases into an already volatile market.
Should inflows continue at this pace, analysts in the reporting suggested Bitcoin could test psychological resistance in the $105,000–$110,000 range. At the same time, episodic profit-taking and data-provider discrepancies mean product desks must prepare for abrupt reversals in fund flows and attendant market impact.
