Bitcoin, Ether ETFs pull in $2.6B, best week since Oct

Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs pulled in $2.6 billion combined for the week ending August 21. That's their best week since October. Trading volume more than tripled to $22.1 billion. A week earlier, the same funds were losing money, not gaining it. That's a sharp reversal in a matter of days.

ETF flows are a cleaner read on institutional money than price swings alone. Anyone can trade crypto directly and move the price around. Money flowing into a regulated fund usually comes from pension funds and wealth managers. They're big, slower-moving investors making a real allocation decision. The timing lines up with the US Treasury doubling its long-term bond buybacks. That move pushed yields down. It made riskier assets like crypto look more attractive again.

Keep reading — what to watch

Does one strong week signal a real shift, or just money chasing a rally? Fund flows tend to follow price momentum as much as they predict it. The next week or two of data will show whether institutions are settling in, or just riding a bounce.