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BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust pulls in $665.2 million as ether ETFs bleed
IBIT carried the spot Bitcoin ETF category to a positive Monday while Fidelity, Grayscale and spot ether funds all saw money head for the exits
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust took in $665.2 million in net inflows on Monday, October 19, 2026. On a day when several rivals lost money, that one fund did most of the lifting for the entire category.
Spot ether ETFs had a rougher start to the week. They posted $103.3 million in net outflows, extending a streak of redemptions that had already been building.
One fund, one direction
The fund, which trades under the ticker IBIT, was the clear standout of the session. Its $665.2 million haul came while two of its best-known competitors moved the other way.
Fidelity’s FBTC recorded $83.6 million in outflows. Grayscale’s GBTC shed $54.9 million.
Put those together and US spot Bitcoin ETFs finished the day with a combined net inflow of $526.7 million.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin itself traded between $78,700 and $82,800 during this period.
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Ether funds keep leaking
The picture for ether products was the mirror image. Spot ether ETFs lost $103.3 million in net flows on Monday.
That followed a week of steady withdrawals. For the week ending October 16, outflows from spot ether ETFs reached approximately $320 million.
For context on how these products work, a spot ETF holds the underlying asset directly. Buying a share of IBIT gives an investor exposure to Bitcoin’s price through an ordinary brokerage account, with no wallet or private keys to manage.
What the split could signal
The research behind these figures frames the IBIT inflow as a possible sign of strong institutional interest in Bitcoin. It also suggests that, given Bitcoin’s relatively steady trading range, the inflow may point to a strategic accumulation phase by larger investors.
The ether side tells a more cautious story. The same research suggests the contrasting performance of Bitcoin and ether ETFs points to a more guarded outlook on ether, with sentiment and market dynamics that might favor Bitcoin in the short term.
By mid-October 2026, cumulative net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs had surpassed $56 billion, with BlackRock’s IBIT consistently capturing the largest market share. Spot Ether ETFs entered October 2026 with net outflows exceeding $950 million for the month to date.
For now, Monday’s data offers a clear snapshot: a $526.7 million net gain for spot Bitcoin ETFs, nearly all of it explained by a single BlackRock fund, alongside a $103.3 million drain from ether products.