Key points:

• Bitcoin ETF inflows obliterated the 2025 average on April 22.

• ETF performance remains tightly dependent on BTC price action, with the turnaround following six-week highs in BTC/USD.

• ETFs themselves are gaining influence, with one commentator arguing that they can “determine” exchange activity.

Bitcoin (BTC) institutional investors piled over eleven times the all-time average into the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on April 22.

Fresh data from onchain analytics firm Glassnode confirms that the $912 million ETF inflows equal more than 500 times the 2025 daily average.

Glassnode: 2025 ETF average inflow just 23 BTC

Bitcoin ETFs immediately felt the impact of BTC price rises this week, with inflows undergoing a “dramatic” turnaround to nearly $1 billion in a single day. BTC/USD hit its highest levels since early March.

Glassnode reveals just how unusual such a tally is — in 2025, so far, the average daily inflow has been just 23 BTC ($2.1 million).

“This was the largest daily inflow since November 11, 2024, marking a notable resurgence in demand,” researchers explained in an X thread on the topic.

The April 22 total thus stands at more than 500 times the average for a year in which dramatic sentiment shifts have led to periods of major outflows across the ETF cohort.

Even in the context of the ETFs’ entire lifespan since their January 2024 launch, the $912 million figure is rare and constitutes around 11.5 times the daily average.

“Since inception, the average daily inflow is approximately 1,031 $BTC,” Glassnode added, calling the April 22 total a “significant deviation.”

ETFs become “marginal buyer” for BTC

Continuing, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas was among those optimistic about the ETFs’ change of fortunes.

Related: Bitcoin exchange buying is back as ‘Spoofy the Whale’ lifts $90K asks

“The spot bitcoin ETFs went Pac-Man mode yesterday,” he told X followers.

Balchunas noted that inflows increased across most of the eleven ETFs — a move that contrasts with the common scenario in which the largest product, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), takes in the lion’s share of investments.

Andre Dragosch, European head of research at asset management firm Bitwise, was equally buoyant.

“Great to see very positive net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs again — In fact, they have become ‘the marginal buyer’ in Bitcoin since Jan 2024,” he observed alongside more Glassnode data. 

“The can actually determine whether you see negative or positive net buying volumes on BTC spot exchanges.”

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