BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) notched its strongest single-day inflow in almost three months on Friday, aligning with renewed institutional interest in Bitcoin and other crypto-linked products.
IBIT attracted $287.4 million in new capital, its largest daily intake since October 8, 2024, according to data from Farside Investors. Across the market, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds collectively pulled in $471.3 million, the biggest combined daily inflow since mid-November and enough to reverse earlier outflows, bringing weekly net inflows to $459 million.
The surge in ETF demand comes as investors weigh rising geopolitical risks following the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which pushed oil futures to four-year lows while crypto markets remained relatively stable.
“The U.S.’s capture of Maduro signals a key tick up in volatility,” Sean Dawson, head of research at on-chain options platform Derive, told Decrypt. “The Trump Administration’s disregard for geopolitical norms shows the President is willing to go to any length to promote his ‘America First’ policy.”
“Given the Trump family’s, along with their political allies’, personal investments in crypto, the recent military operation is bullish as it shows that the administration views digital assets as strategically aligned with U.S. interests,” Dawson added. “The uptick in Bitcoin ETF flows is therefore unsurprising,” he said, arguing that investors are increasingly pricing in an extended “America First” outlook marked by geopolitical assertiveness, policy uncertainty, and a regulatory climate favorable to crypto as “both a strategic asset and a macro hedge.”
Other issuers also saw notable inflows on Friday. Fidelity’s FBTC added $88.1 million, Bitwise’s BITB took in $41.5 million, and Grayscale’s GBTC saw $15.4 million.
Pratik Kala, head of research at Apollo Crypto, said traditional market dynamics are also at play.
“Start of year portfolio rebalancing is likely a factor; Bitcoin underperformed other assets in Q4 2025 and, as a result, drifted below its target weight, thus start of year rebalance led to inflows,” Kala told Decrypt.
Kala also cited “tax loss harvesting in Q4 flipped to maintaining long bias in Q1 2026,” while emphasizing that “Maduro’s capture by force solidifies the use case for Bitcoin. A non-censorable decentralized store of value which is increasingly needed in a polarising world with a rapidly changing world order,” he added.
Bitcoin was last trading at $92,670, up 1.4% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.