BlackRock-Led Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs Draw $2.65 Billion in Five-Day Inflow Streak

Whales Add 113,950 BTC

Bitcoin's largest mid-tier holders keep buying the dip. On-chain analytics data dated Sept. 23 shows whale wallets holding between 100 and 1,000 Bitcoin (BTC) have accumulated roughly 113,950 BTC since July 15, lifting their combined stash about 2.22% to approximately 5.24 million BTC. Santiment, whose dataset frames this cohort as one of the more reliable directional gauges in the Bitcoin (BTC) market, notes that over the past five years shifts in these wallets' balances have tracked price trends closely — and past accumulation waves by this group frequently surfaced just before, or during, sustained rallies. The steady buying implies many large holders are treating pullbacks as entry windows rather than exits, a bet that conviction will continue to HODL through volatility, which in turn can absorb sell-side pressure and cushion recoveries. Santiment does caution, however, that whale accumulation alone does not guarantee further upside: the signal has to be read alongside retail sentiment, fear gauges and exchange deposit flows. A separate Glassnode analysis from the same date adds the cycle dimension — Bitcoin's roughly 30% retracement from its all-time high is less than half as deep as the losses recorded at comparable stages of prior bear markets, when bottoms arrived within weeks. Glassnode argues the traditional four-year cycle template is not repeating cleanly this time and that every week without a delayed breakdown lowers the odds of a catch-down to old bear-market loss levels. The firm's framework still rests on historical cycle analogies, so traders reading long-cycle tools like the Bitcoin Rainbow Chart should treat the shallower correction as context, not a risk-free floor.

Five Straight ETF Inflow Days

Demand through the regulated wrapper has been just as persistent. US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs took in $346.98 million in net inflows on Sept. 23, a fifth consecutive session of gains that pushes the five-day total to $2.65 billion — the largest such stretch since Oct. 10, 2025. A shared flow update confirms the BlackRock-led tape. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the session with $166.29 million, nearly half the day's total, followed by Fidelity's FBTC at $143.24 million, Morgan Stanley's MSBT at $32.41 million and Ark Invest's ARKB at $5.04 million; the remaining products were flat. Earlier sessions frame the streak's scale: the funds pulled in $998.95 million on Sept. 21 — their biggest single day in roughly 11 months, with IBIT at $381.4 million, ARKB at $289.1 million and FBTC at $238.8 million — then added $714.75 million on Sept. 22, when IBIT contributed another $350.3 million and the newer MSBT drew $99 million. Cumulatively, IBIT's net inflows since launch stand at $65.0 billion and FBTC's at $11.0 billion, while all US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs combined have gathered $57.22 billion; total fund net assets reached $108.66 billion, about 6.42% of Bitcoin's market capitalization. The demand was not confined to the largest crypto asset — US spot Ether ETFs added $105 million on Sept. 23, including $50.8 million into BlackRock's ETHA. Notably, the streak held even as macro headlines whipsawed risk appetite across the wider Bitcoin market, from the Fed's first rate hike since 2023 (covered in our note on Bitcoin holding $84K) to the extended US-China trade truce. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Gate.

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Shared flow update.

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$82K Support Scores 90/100

An update on the fund flows shows the streak has crossed a milestone: US spot Bitcoin ETFs have erased their year-to-date net outflows and flipped back to positive territory for 2026. The deficit had reached $5.69 billion as of July 13, but roughly $6.04 billion has since returned, leaving the funds about $349 million in net inflows on the year, per Farside data. BlackRock's IBIT alone gathered around $1.02 billion across the four most recent sessions, with the average acquisition price of ETF-held Bitcoin estimated near $82,000. Price context strengthens the picture: Bitcoin has climbed roughly 35% from its August low near $64,100, briefly touching $87,265 before easing back to $84,589. CryptoQuant data, however, flags short-term holders sending approximately 47,600 BTC in profit to exchanges, while Santiment notes that heavy ETF inflows have historically coincided with market turning points — making sustained ETF buying the key test for the uptrend.

Further context from Santiment's update highlights the technical milestone behind the optimism: Bitcoin has moved back above its 365-day moving average, which sat near $80,500 — a level it last reclaimed in March 2023, before the price pushed substantially higher in the months that followed. The climb also carried the asset through a heavy supply zone between $76,000 and $81,000, with the next major test now framed at $88,000 to $90,000, where a large concentration of BTC is held. On the cycle outlook, CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju expects a 3-to-5x rally this cycle rather than another 10x surge, arguing that the market's growing size and rising institutional participation are damping the extreme swings that defined earlier cycles.

A fresh on-chain update points to the buying continuing in real time: BlackRock's IBIT received 3,750 BTC — worth roughly $316 million — from Coinbase Prime within a single hour, an inflow exceeding $300 million that suggests the day's net tally was still building after the published flow figures. Transfers of this size through Coinbase Prime are typically read as custody movements tied to new fund creation rather than exchange selling, and they reinforce the picture of IBIT as the streak's primary driver. For traders monitoring supply, the move indicates BlackRock was absorbing coins at market even as spot price hovered near the key $82,000-$88,000 zone.

A fresh Glassnode update maps the next upside battleground after the recent reclaim: the firm places the largest cluster of long-term holder supply between $84,000 and $85,000, a band Bitcoin tested when it briefly dipped to about $83,500 on Wednesday before closing near $84,400 on Binance, and it slipped to roughly $83,800 on Thursday without a confirmed daily break. Above that shelf, Glassnode flags $95,000 to $97,000 as the next major test, where options positioning meets the mean MVRV price of $96,700. The firm adds that holding above $84,000 keeps the path open, while a drop below it would put the $77,000 True Market Mean back in play. The pullback followed a hot US PMI report that pushed the 10-year Treasury yield above 5%, reviving Fed hike fears, after the $84,000 breakout on Sept. 21 liquidated $262.30 million in short positions within an hour.

(as of 14:30 UTC) COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the $81,593.98 support at 80/100, driven by the S2 pivot, Ichimoku Tenkan and Kijun and Fibonacci 0.214 confluence, while the $86,589.72 resistance scores 79/100 on ATR upper band, R1, Fibonacci 0.000 and Donchian upper band confluence. Spot trades at $84,721.76, up 0.81% in 24 hours, with RSI at 64.34 and a bullish MACD inside an uptrend, and a nearer support shelf at $84,021.79 (60/100) sits just below price via flip from resistance, Fibonacci 0.114 and MACD cross confluence, with $76,842 (58/100) deeper via Donchian lower band, swing low, SMA 50 and Keltner lower confluence. Derivatives positioning is constructive rather than crowded: funding sits flat at 0.0000%, open interest is $16.71 billion, and the long/short account ratio of 1.37 (57.8% long) shows no leverage pile-up, while the Fear & Greed Index at 71 signals greed without euphoria. Bullish scenario: holding $84,022 opens a retest of $86,590; losing it — with $81,594 and then $76,842 as the next shelves — would invalidate the thesis.