Crypto ETFs brought in $2.39 billion during the week, pushing 2026 net inflows back into positive territory even as Bitcoin fell 4.3% and U.S. Treasury yields climbed to 5.20%.
Hilbert Group, the digital asset investment firm listed on Nasdaq First North, highlighted the strong fund inflows in its September 28 market update.
Senior portfolio manager Jesse Marre said the continued ETF buying was notable because markets were under pressure from rising government bond yields and weaker U.S. stocks.
Bitcoin dropped to around $83,500 after recently trading higher, but investors continued putting money into crypto funds. Marre said this was similar to the previous week, when negative market news also failed to create a lasting drop in demand.
The $2.39 billion weekly inflow was especially important because it pushed total 2026 ETF flows back above zero. At their weakest point in July, annual flows had fallen to a $5.8 billion deficit.
Marre said total ETF net assets were around $108 billion, still below the previous peak of $152 billion. Bitcoin was trading near $125,000 when ETF assets reached that level.
Data from Farside Investors showed strong demand for several U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock’s IBIT attracted about $1.16 billion, while Fidelity’s FBTC brought in $701.6 million and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB received $294.7 million.
Morgan Stanley’s MSBT also recorded about $203.3 million in weekly inflows, its largest amount since launching in April.
Across the five trading sessions from September 21 to 25, daily inflows stayed positive but declined from roughly $999 million on Monday to $134.5 million on Friday.
At the same time, Treasury yields moved sharply higher. Marre said the market was relatively calm until Wednesday, when the 10-year Treasury yield moved above previous highs and climbed from around 4.95% to 5.20%.
He said the move did not appear to be caused by one specific economic report. Instead, he pointed to the existing upward trend in yields, inflation concerns and growing questions about government finances.
The rise in yields put pressure on several major markets. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.4%, and Bitcoin declined 4.3% to around $83,500.
Although stock-market volatility later eased, Treasury yields remained close to their highs. Marre warned that calmer trading did not necessarily mean the pressure from higher yields was over.
For Bitcoin, Marre viewed the move between roughly $82,400 and $87,500 as a period of consolidation after the recent rally.
He said Bitcoin could continue trading inside that range without a new market catalyst. If the price moves above it, he identified around $89,000 as an important level that could open the way toward $95,000.
On the downside, he placed support around $80,000, followed by $77,000. A move below $77,000, in his view, would increase selling pressure and weaken the current bullish structure.
Options markets were relatively balanced. Marre put DVol, a measure of Bitcoin volatility, at around 35 and said bullish and bearish options were priced fairly close to each other.
Five-delta calls had implied volatility near 39%. He also said implied volatility was still below realized volatility, although the difference had narrowed from around seven percentage points to roughly one to 1.5 points as Bitcoin’s price swings became smaller.
Marre also discussed recent SEC guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto tokens. He said the guidance could provide a path for activities such as staking and buybacks to distribute revenue to token holders within a legal framework.
After the CLARITY Act failed to advance, Marre said the SEC and CFTC were moving quickly to establish parts of the crypto regulatory framework through their existing authority.
However, he warned that rules created through agency action could potentially be changed by a future administration. He said the longer-term question would be how deeply these rules become established before any change in administration.
The upcoming U.S. economic data was also expected to play an important role. Marre highlighted PCE inflation data, core PCE, GDP and Chicago PMI for Wednesday, followed by ISM manufacturing on Thursday and nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
Those reports could influence Treasury yields and provide investors with more information about the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision.
