Bitcoin Surges Past $80K as ETF Inflows Hit Record High

Bitcoin has been on a tear, reaching an intraday high of $80,475 before trading around $79,520 on Thursday. This price surge comes as U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to draw significant inflows, with $2.8 billion pouring in over the past eight days.

The majority of these inflows, $2.02 billion or 72%, came from BlackRock's IBIT, while Grayscale's GBTC saw a net loss of $50.4 million on Wednesday alone. Since launch, cumulative net inflows for the category stand at $54.7 billion, with IBIT drawing $63.1 billion and GBTC bleeding $27.6 billion.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that gold and Bitcoin funds had drawn a combined $7 billion over the past week, calling it 'by far a record for a 5-day period.' This surge in inflows is attributed to a debasement trade pulling attention from AI. IBIT's year-to-date flows have turned positive after a long spell in the red.

Weekly trading volume topped $90 billion, roughly double the average, with Bitcoin accounting for just under $40 billion of it. Weekly ETF inflows of nearly $2 billion matched the previous 30 days combined, according to Stephen Wundke, strategy and revenue director at Algoz Technologies.