Institutional investors pour $170 million into Bitcoin ETFs

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded their highest single-day inflows in months on Tuesday, with investors pouring an additional $170 million into U.S.-listed products. The surge came despite last month’s $35 million hack of Coldcard wallets, a breach that exposed vulnerabilities in the hardware devices used by long-term bitcoin holders. The contradiction highlights how quickly institutional money can shift focus from security scares to long-term price bets.

The inflows are part of a broader rotation back into regulated bitcoin exposure after a quiet summer. Analysts point to two triggers: the recent launch of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust on August 12 and the Federal Reserve’s signal that interest-rate cuts are likely before year-end. Those factors have convinced allocators that the regulatory and macro backdrop is finally stable enough to justify fresh allocations, even with headlines about exchange hacks.

Tuesday’s net buying lifted the total assets under management in U.S. spot-bitcoin ETFs to $63.8 billion, surpassing the previous record set in early August. BlackRock alone took in $135 million, while Fidelity added $30 million, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence. Coinbase, the custodian for most of the funds, reported no abnormal withdrawal requests from clients, suggesting the inflows represent new money rather than a rotation from self-custody wallets.

The next test will come on Friday, when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the August consumer-price index. Any sign of persistent inflation could delay Fed easing and sour risk appetite, potentially reversing the ETF inflows. Conversely, a softer inflation print may accelerate the flow into bitcoin products and push the total AUM past $65 billion by month-end. Either way, the latest numbers show that regulated bitcoin ETFs have become the default on-ramp for mainstream investors, regardless of isolated security incidents.