BITB adds 250 BTC ($16 million) as Bitcoin ETF holdings rise

The BITB Bitcoin ETF posted a $16.07 million computed inflow on Wednesday, while iShares funds IBIT and ETHA show their initial holdings from earlier in the week.

BITB, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, added 249.63 bitcoins worth a computed $16.07 million on Wednesday, August 19. It marks the fund's largest positive dollar inflow in this stored window, coming off a stretch of volatility for its holdings. The day's snapshot also shows the Ethereum counterpart fund ETHW breaking a long stretch of zero activity, while the initial holdings of BlackRock's giants, IBIT and ETHA, anchor the larger market picture. These numbers come from issuer filings, computed by XOOMAR by comparing stored holdings rows and multiplying by spot marks. Detailed methodologies for these crypto ETF flows are available here, with data accessible via an API.

Today's Major ETF Print

Wednesday's $16.07 million computed flow into BITB represents an addition of 249.63 BTC, lifting its total holdings to 36,868.01 BTC. XOOMAR reading: This is now the largest single positive dollar inflow for BITB in the stored tape, edging out a $10.47 million print from August 6. In terms of raw magnitude, however, an outflow of $28.34 million on August 11 still holds that title. The single-day dollar flow number is derived from the delta in underlying bitcoin holdings between snapshots, priced at the XOOMAR Bitcoin mark at the time of data ingestion. It doesn't delineate between creations, redemptions, or pricing artifacts.

BITB's Three-Week Journey

BITB's stored history since August 4 reveals three distinct phases. The fund began an initial accumulation, climbing from its first snapshot of 36,754.04 BTC to a peak of 37,112.24 BTC on Monday, August 10. This period saw steady, mostly positive inflows. That was followed by a sharp washout. The tape shows holdings flatlining for two sessions, then a massive $28.34 million outflow on August 11, which stands as the largest-magnitude move in either direction. A smaller outflow of $9.20 million followed on August 14. The final phase, a recovery, began on August 17 with a $6.28 million inflow, a flat Tuesday, and culminated in Wednesday's $16.07 million print. Over the entire available window, BITB's net coin accumulation totals 113.97 BTC, with a cumulative computed dollar flow of $7.90 million.

Behind the 'Computed Flow' Numbers

For these Bitcoin ETF flows the primary metric is computed flow, a derived figure that represents the dollar value of the change in an ETF's underlying coin holdings between two stored issuer snapshots. XOOMAR calculates it by taking the difference in the number of coins held, as reported by the issuer, and then multiplying that delta by the spot mark price for the asset at the time of data processing. This means the dollar flow is sensitive to price moves between snapshots. It's a measure of net change, not a direct ledger of creations or redemptions. When a fund appears for the first time in the tape, like IBIT and ETHA have, there is no prior row for comparison, so the flow field is blank. It's never reported as zero.

ETHW Emerges From Zero-Flow Stretch

Bitwise's spot Ethereum ETF, ETHW, also saw action on Wednesday. It posted a $1.37 million inflow, lifting its total holdings to 107,492.25 ETH. This ends a notable drought. Prior to a small $684,096.64 inflow on Tuesday, August 18, ETHW's tape showed seven consecutive stored sessions with a computed flow of exactly $0.00. That stretch ran from Friday, August 7 through Monday, August 17. Over the full window, ETHW's holdings have increased by 2,503.01 ETH from its initial snapshot.

The Arrival of BlackRock's Giants

The snapshot for Wednesday, August 19 also includes the first-held data for iShares funds IBIT and ETHA, dated Monday, August 17. Their scale is immediately apparent. IBIT holds 748,969.36 BTC, a position 20.3 times larger than BITB's current holdings. ETHA holds 3,016,063.05 ETH, which is 28.1 times the size of ETHW. Combined, the two Bitwise and two iShares funds represent a massive on-chain position: 785,837.37 BTC and 3,123,555.31 ETH. Because these are first snapshots, no daily flow can be computed. The next filings for IBIT and ETHA will unlock the first measurable daily movement for these heavyweight products.

The Market Context

The AUM figures for these ETFs are priced using the same-time spot marks from perpetual swap markets, provided for context in a separate Pulse tape. On Wednesday, Bitcoin marks hovered around $64,390 on major exchanges, while Ethereum traded near $1,921. Perpetual funding rates were in positive territory but minimal. This data is timestamped concurrently with the ETF snapshots, but no causal link between ETF flows and derivatives pricing is implied.

The Four-Fund Roll Call

The latest snapshot for the four covered funds shows BITB's recovery flow leading the day's activity, ETHW exiting its zero-flow streak, and the colossal footprints of IBIT and ETHA now on the board. When the next iShares holdings files land, the picture of daily Bitcoin ETF flows will gain substantially more definition, revealing whether the passive giants are seeing net additions or subtractions in their inaugural days.