VIP Desk: US$664M ETF inflow, sentiment stabilises

Welcome to your BTC Markets VIP Desk briefing.

A new fortnightly series where we share what's moving markets and what it means for you.

We're Eric and Nic. Between us, we've worked across multiple market cycles supporting institutional and high-volume clients. Covering everything from OTC execution and liquidity to onboarding and day-to-day trading activity. We run the BTC Markets OTC Desk, and we know what signals are worth your attention.

Every fortnight, we'll share what we're seeing, what's coming through the desk, and what matters for the weeks ahead.

No noise. Just the signals that matter.

Sincerely,

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This Week in 60 Seconds

• The Crypto Fear & Greed Index remains in Fear territory, rebounding from last month’s Extreme Fear lows.
• BTC stabilised in the mid US$70,000s following weeks of macro driven selling pressure.
• Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs all made significant moves into the crypto market in a single week.
• US Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately US$664M in a single session, the strongest since mid-January.
• Paris Blockchain Week reinforced growing European institutional momentum.
• This week: BTC & ETH options expiry Friday, ongoing CLARITY Act news flow.

It's been a volatile week. Global macro conditions have kept markets on edge, and crypto has not been immune. But last week told a more interesting story underneath the headlines: sentiment is hovering in the Fear zone, the largest single day institutional Bitcoin ETF inflow since January landed, and traditional finance continued its march into the crypto spot market at an accelerating pace.

The noise was loud. The signal was constructive.

Market Snapshot

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is holding in Fear territory, as institutional buyers step in and BTC holds the mid US$70,000s.

The Week in Review: 13-19 April

• Charles Schwab launched Schwab Crypto, direct spot BTC & ETH for 39M clients.
• Morgan Stanley launched its Bitcoin ETF; Goldman Sachs filed a Bitcoin income ETF.
• US Bitcoin ETFs recorded approx. US$664M in a single session, the strongest inflow since January.
• Paris Blockchain Week (15-16 Apr) saw European institutional momentum continue to build.
• Global macro conditions remained volatile with energy and risk markets in particular sensitive to developing events.

Significant Events

Two structural positives defined the week of 13–19 April: The largest TradFi entry into crypto this year, and the strongest institutional ETF demand since January.

1. Institutional Adoption

Schwab crypto: 39 million retail clients now have direct bitcoin access

Charles Schwab launched direct spot BTC and ETH trading on 16 April. Managing ~US$11-12 trillion in client assets, Schwab's entry is the most significant TradFi bridge to the crypto spot market to date.

2. ETF Flows

Strongest Bitcoin ETF inflow day since January, with US$664M in a single session

US spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed approximately US$664M in a single trading session last week. March ended with US$1.32B in net monthly inflows, the first positive month since October.

3. Market Conditions

Global macro remains fluid and our desk is watching closely

Global conditions are developing quickly, and crypto is not isolated from broader market sensitivity. The structural picture is improving as institutional flows are real, and US regulatory momentum is building. Near term volatility remains a feature of this environment though.

Beyond the Charts

From smelter to server farm: Bitcoin mining inherits America's industrial past

In 2014, Alcoa shut down its Massena East aluminium smelter on the banks of the St. Lawrence River due to high energy costs and foreign competition. The 1,300-acre site sat idle for over a decade, its heavy duty grid connections and access to hydropower intact but unused.

This week, Alcoa confirmed advanced talks to sell it to Bitcoin mining firm NYDIG, expected to close mid-2026. The logic is neat: the infrastructure that made aluminium smelting unworkable in the US (enormous electrical capacity in remote locations), is exactly what Bitcoin miners need most.

Building that from scratch takes years. Inheriting it is a shortcut of considerable value.

The Week Ahead: 20-26 April

• Fri 24 Apr: BTC & ETH monthly options expiry. Elevated intraday volatility expected as traders unwind hedges.
• Ongoing: CLARITY Act Senate markup. The US digital asset regulation bill was targeted for late April. Any signal moves markets with Polymarket pricing ~72% odds of it becoming law in 2026.
• Ongoing: Global macro conditions. The desk is watching energy and risk sentiment closely through the week.

VIP Desk View

The sentiment number says Fear. The underlying picture says something more interesting, and the disconnect is worth understanding.

A Crypto Fear & Greed reading of 29 sounds alarming, but it’s worth remembering this is a market that went from near capitulation to equilibrium in under two weeks, driven almost entirely by institutional buying whilst retail sentiment stayed cautious. That divergence is worth noting. The US$664M single session ETF inflow didn't happen because confidence returned broadly. It happened because specific, large buyers made a deliberate decision at a specific price. That's a different signal to organic sentiment recovery.

The broader trend is worth naming: traditional finance is moving into crypto spot markets at a pace that would have seemed unlikely eighteen months ago. That shift changes the composition of who is holding and trading digital assets and by extension, how those markets behave. More institutional participation generally means deeper liquidity and reduced volatility over time, but it also means crypto price action becomes more correlated with broader market conditions. That's a structural change, not a temporary one.

For this week: Friday's options expiry is the only scheduled catalyst inside the 20-26 April window. These events historically introduce intraday volatility as traders unwind hedges. Beyond that, macro conditions remain the dominant variable.

If this institutional shift is real and durable, the opportunity is in positioning ahead of the consensus, not after it.

We're watching closely and are here if you'd like to talk through anything.

Book a call with us today

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