Bitcoin held above $62,000 early Thursday as spot ETF inflows reached $1.8 billion for the week, according to data from Farside Investors. The largest single-day print came from BlackRock’s IBIT at $452 million, pushing cumulative net inflows past $14.6 billion since January. Trading volume on the ETFs averaged 28.4 million shares, roughly 1.8 times the 30-day moving average.

On-chain metrics reinforced the institutional bid. Glassnode recorded a 14 percent week-over-week rise in addresses holding at least 1,000 BTC, while exchange reserves fell another 12,400 coins. Whale transfer volume above $10 million spiked to 47 transactions on Wednesday, the highest single-day count since mid-March.

"The real signal isn’t the 1.2 percent daily move but the $1.8 billion in ETF inflows and shrinking on-chain exchange reserves that together mark a structural bid retail flows alone cannot replicate."

The cost structure for accessing this exposure through ETFs continues to tighten. BlackRock and Fidelity now carry expense ratios of 0.25 percent and 0.25 percent respectively after fee waivers expire; average bid-ask spreads on IBIT and FBTC have compressed to 0.04 percent and 0.05 percent. Because these vehicles settle through traditional brokerage accounts, investors avoid on-chain gas fees entirely, which currently average $2.80 for a standard Ethereum transfer and $0.12 on Tron.

Ethereum, meanwhile, saw more muted flows. Its spot ETF products posted $118 million in net inflows this week, lifting total assets under management to $9.3 billion. However, the spread between the largest products remains wider at 0.09 percent, and daily trading volume has yet to exceed 60 percent of Bitcoin ETF levels.

Regulatory signals added another layer of support. A House Financial Services Committee hearing scheduled for next week is expected to advance the FIT21 market-structure bill, which would codify spot Bitcoin and Ether as commodities under CFTC oversight. Options pricing on Deribit now assigns only a 14 percent probability to a post-hearing enforcement action against major exchanges.

Broader risk assets reflected the same institutional rotation. The S&P 500 added 0.7 percent while the Nasdaq-100 gained 1.1 percent, but Bitcoin’s 30-day rolling correlation with tech equities has fallen to 0.41, the lowest reading since October 2023. This decoupling suggests crypto-specific capital is driving price action more than macro beta.

Looking ahead, the next catalyst sits with the monthly options expiry on Deribit, where $4.2 billion in notional open interest will settle Friday. Max pain sits at $61,000, yet open interest above $65,000 has grown 22 percent in the past ten days, indicating that leveraged long positions are increasingly willing to defend higher strikes.