U.S. crypto ETFs navigated one of their most volatile weeks in September as policy developments triggered significant midweek selling before capital returned on Friday. Bitcoin funds reversed course to finish with a $6.21 million inflow, while ether ETFs posted $140 million in net withdrawals, snapping a four-week inflow streak.
Bitcoin ETFs entered Friday nursing more than $426 million in weekly redemptions. A $433.03 million surge on Friday dragged the category back into positive territory, bringing the five-session total to $6.21 million. The week-over-week improvement from the previous week's $462.73 million loss represented a roughly $469 million swing.
Policy Events Drive Volatility
The week's movements reflected reactions to major policy announcements. Monday started strongly with $160.04 million flowing into bitcoin funds. Flows reversed on Tuesday following the Senate's failed cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which saw $450.33 million exit bitcoin ETFs. Wednesday brought another $295.98 million withdrawal following the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point rate increase to 3.75%-4%, its first increase since July 2023. Thursday posted a $159.45 million rebound before Friday's buying completed the recovery.
Performance by Fund
BlackRock's IBIT led inflows with $120.66 million for the week. Fidelity's FBTC added $79.9 million, while Morgan Stanley's MSBT gained $13.2 million. Ark & 21Shares' ARKB experienced the largest weekly outflow at $141.9 million, and Grayscale's GBTC lost $62.3 million.
Ether ETFs posted $140 million in net outflows for the week. Tuesday and Wednesday withdrawals of $141.47 million and $224.11 million overwhelmed Monday's $121.02 million inflow. Friday provided relief with $143.80 million in fresh money.
Altcoin ETF Activity
ZEC ETFs attracted $98.21 million, with Grayscale's ZCSH receiving $46.56 million on Thursday and $37.67 million on Friday. The flows made Zcash one of the week's clearest institutional growth stories.
XRP ETFs finished with $9.56 million in net inflows for the week. HYPE ETFs ended in positive territory with $3.06 million. Solana flows were highly active, with inflows including $11.01 million on Monday and $47.62 million on Friday.
