Key Highlights
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $1 billion in net inflows on September 21 and September 22, before inflows slowed to $24 million on September 28.
- Bitcoin’s price remained range-bound as ETF buying weakened after the strong inflows earlier in the week.
- Long-term holders’ share of total realized profit increased from 34% to 55% in the week ending September 29.
Bitcoin traded sideways this week as U.S. spot exchange-traded fund inflows slowed after two strong days in late September.
According to data from Glassnode released on September 30, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of about nearly $1 billion on each of September 21 and September 22. The September 21 total marked the largest single-day inflow in nearly a year. Inflows declined on subsequent trading days, reaching $24 million on September 28, the most recent day in the data. Price action remained range-bound during the period.
Last week’s Glassnode report noted an uptick in ETF buying. Funds continued to record net purchases, though at a fraction of the September 21-22 pace.
Profit-taking remains moderate as long-term holders sell more
Weekly net realized profit and loss, measuring the net dollar gain locked in when coins change hands, stayed well below the average levels seen at the 2024 and 2025 market tops. The current pace resembled levels from the start of the late-2023 uptrend.
Long-term holders, defined as those holding coins for more than 155 days, nearly doubled their realized profit in the week ending September 29 compared with the week of the recent breakout. Their share of total realized profit rose from 34% to 55%.
Over the last 30 trading sessions, Bitcoin outperformed the S&P 500 on more than half of the days. That share first moved above 50% on September 24, the first such stretch since mid-May. Bitcoin also reacted less to the S&P 500’s down days than to its up days in a pattern that held since August 20.
The Glassnode data further mentions that, from September 22 to September 29, Bitcoin declined 2.9% while the S&P 500 fell 1.2%. Bitcoin recorded larger declines than the S&P 500 on the index’s losing sessions during the week.
Order book resistance and support levels
A concentration of sell orders on the Binance spot order book formed between $85,000 and $85,500. The wall appeared on September 24 and has since tripled in size. Price has tested the lower portion of the range but has not moved through it.
The Short-Term Holder Cost Basis, the average acquisition price for coins held less than 155 days, stood at $73,300. Bitcoin traded approximately 13% above that level. The True Market Mean, an estimate of the average price paid by active investors, sat at $77,200, about 8% below the prevailing price. Price has remained above the True Market Mean since September 18.
Combined Bitcoin volume from spot exchanges and U.S. spot ETFs averaged about $6.4 billion per day. That level sits near the bottom of the range observed since the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Spot volume had more than doubled from its August low in the prior week, though the rebound began from a low base.
Altcoin performance and leverage
Most of the top 500 altcoins rose more than Bitcoin over the past 30 days. The advance stalled this week, with 6% of altcoins trading at a 30-day high, down from 49% on September 22.
Funding rates on perpetual futures indicated modest leverage. Only 19% of altcoins showed funding above the neutral rate of 0.01%. For the median altcoin, the percentage of supply in profit rose from 3% in mid-August to 23%. Open interest in altcoin perpetual futures increased in dollar terms over 30 days but declined when measured in coin terms. Altcoin spot volume rose from August levels but remained below 2024 and 2025 peaks.
Related market developments
ARK Invest introduced private prediction-market exchange Kalshi to its ETF strategies, according to a September 30 statement by Founder and CEO Cathie Wood.
The announcement accompanied ARK’s September 29 trade notification showing portfolio adjustments across its actively managed ETFs, including purchases of NVIDIA, Broadcom, CoreWeave, SpaceX, and Tesla, and reductions in AMD. ARK described the daily files as unofficial and unreconciled.
Bitwise Asset Management launched the Bitwise NEAR ETF under the ticker NRR. The fund began trading on NYSE Arca on September 29. It holds NEAR directly and intends to stake holdings in-house. The fund charges a 0.75% annual management fee. Staking rewards accrue to shareholders through net asset value. Staking-related expenses are deducted from 33% of the staking rewards generated.
Also Read: Open Standard Debuts OUSD Stablecoin Across Base, Ethereum, Solana
