Bitcoin ETF Inflows Are Underperforming In 2026, Data Shows

Data shows the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have witnessed capital inflows lag this year relative to 2025 and 2024.

In a new post on X, analyst Maartunn has discussed how the cumulative inflows related to the US Bitcoin spot ETFs in 2026 so far have compared to past years. “Spot ETFs” here refer to investment vehicles that allow investors to gain indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency.

The main benefit of the spot ETFs is that since they trade on traditional exchanges, users never have to interact with any blockchain infrastructure like digital asset exchanges or wallets at all. This advantage of theirs can make them a convenient mode of investment into cryptocurrencies for the more traditional investors like institutional entities.

In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the spot ETFs for Bitcoin back in January 2024, while Ethereum received its approval in July of the same year. Since then, these funds have attracted a significant amount of capital inflows, establishing themselves as one of the cornerstones of the sector.

Below is a chart that shows how these inflows have compared across 2024, 2025, and 2026:

As is visible in the graph, the US Bitcoin spot ETFs enjoyed the highest amount of net inflows during 2024, their first year in existence. This year mostly saw bullish or sideways price action, so interest in the funds was quite consistent.

2025 also observed the entry of a significant amount of capital into these funds, but the trajectory followed over the year wasn’t quite as straightforward. The price depression during the first few months meant that outflows took place, but the bull run that followed in the second half of the year garnered a huge amount of interest.

The inflows during this period were so strong that 2025 was on pace to beat 2024. As the bull run fizzled out and a bearish transition occurred in the last quarter of the year, however, outflows once again followed.

2026 so far has continued the bearish market trajectory, with the cryptocurrency being more than 11% down compared to the start of the year. As a result, inflows have predictably remained weak.

The recent Bitcoin recovery did attract some interest, but even after these inflows, 2026 is behind where 2024 and 2025 were at the same point in time. It now remains to be seen whether the year will continue to lag in the coming months or if a market turnaround will appear.

Bitcoin dropped toward the $76,000 level earlier in the week, but the coin has since seen a minor rebound back to $77,600.