ETF Demand Keeps Bitcoin Above $79K as Inflow Streak Hits Longest Since April

Bitcoin remained firmly above $79,000 on Thursday as spot Bitcoin ETFs extended their net-inflow streak to eight consecutive trading days, while most major altcoins edged lower.

BTC briefly pushed past $80,000, gaining more than 1% since midnight UTC as the market continued to digest last week’s powerful rally. According to SoSoValue, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted a combined $2.8 billion during the latest eight-day inflow streak, the longest since April.

The rally was helped by the U.S. Treasury’s decision to double its purchases of longer-dated government bonds. The announcement helped Bitcoin break out of a six-week range and was followed by more than $3 billion in short liquidations, while also strengthening sentiment toward Bitcoin and gold.

Futures Activity Remains Relatively Moderate

Crypto futures trading picked up over the past 24 hours, with volume increasing 6% and open interest rising 3%. The long-short taker ratio reached 51.3%, indicating a slight edge for buyers executing trades at available market prices.

Bitcoin’s futures market, however, has not expanded significantly alongside the spot rally. Open interest remains near 700,000 BTC, suggesting that traders have not aggressively increased leverage. This could reduce the risk of sudden liquidation events and leave spot buying as a more important driver of the move.

Ether futures open interest rose to 13.53 million ETH, compared with 13.10 million a day earlier. Despite the increase, positioning remains comfortably below the May high of 15.68 million ETH.

Solana has attracted more activity in derivatives. SOL open interest jumped 5% to 67.96 million SOL, its highest level since July 9. The increase supports the token’s move above $100, while positive cumulative volume delta indicates aggressive buyers are entering long positions through market orders.

XRP, GRAM, CRO and SHIB also saw open interest increase, while ZEC recorded a decline.

Across most leading cryptocurrencies, positive open-interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta points to continued buyer aggression. Perpetual funding rates remain positive but below 10%, suggesting bullish positioning has not yet become excessively crowded.

Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, increased to 46% from 42%, reflecting stronger demand for options and other derivatives used to hedge against potential price swings.

Deribit data shows institutional traders are also buying longer-dated put options to protect against downside risk, even as shorter-term traders continue to favor upside exposure.

Bitcoin call options continue to dominate recent 24-hour volume, particularly at strikes between $70,000 and $85,000. Higher-strike calls are attracting greater activity than contracts below the current spot price.

Ether is showing a comparable preference for calls, although the $2,150 put expiring Sept. 25 remains the most active contract by volume.

Altcoins Remain Divided

Bittensor’s TAO led several altcoins higher, rising 5.3% to approximately $247. The token has recovered from its August low near $185 and is now up roughly 18% over the past seven days.

Morpho climbed around 2.7% to $2.60, taking its weekly gain to approximately 19% as trading activity and DeFi appetite remained strong.

Ethena’s ENA gained about 2.5% to $0.151, extending its recovery after a 61% jump last week. Despite the recent momentum, ENA remains significantly below its earlier highs following a decline of more than 90% over several months.

Zcash fell roughly 4.1% to $783, giving back some of its recent gains. The token nevertheless remains up around 41% over seven days following last week’s sharp short-squeeze rally.

CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index has dropped to 38/100 from 51/100 last week, suggesting that market attention is increasingly shifting back toward Bitcoin following its breakout to monthly highs.