BlackRock Dominates Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF Inflows as BTC Surges Past $81,000

BlackRock captured more than 60% of the $338 million in daily Bitcoin ETF inflows on Aug. 24, with its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) drawing $209 million while its Ethereum fund (ETHA) added $90.92 million, extending a six-consecutive-day inflow streak that has pushed cumulative spot Bitcoin ETF inflows to $54 billion. The surge in institutional demand coincided with Bitcoin briefly touching $81,237 on Aug.

25, its highest level since mid-May and the peak of an eight-day rally of roughly 25-28%, fueled by a weakening U.S. dollar, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's efforts to stabilize bond markets, and Treasury buybacks. The derivatives market felt the strain as well, with a short squeeze wiping out $452 million in bearish bets. Separately, BlackRock has cut the minimum required to convert Bitcoin directly into IBIT shares through in-kind transfers to $1 million from $25 million, a structural change that is accelerating the migration of crypto wealth onto Wall Street.

More than $5 billion has already moved into IBIT via these in-kind conversions, and the mechanism is expanding into Ether and Solana, with Bitwise, Morgan Stanley, and Grayscale seeing similar adoption. Finbold noted this buying pace represents BlackRock's most aggressive accumulation since Bitcoin's all-time high in October 2025.