BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has recorded net inflows for the last 20 trading days. This marks the longest streak for any spot bitcoin ETF this year.

Goldman Sachs has become the largest shareholder in IBIT with a 28% increase in its holdings in the first quarter of 2025. During these 20 days, IBIT received over $5 billion in investments.

The ongoing inflows into IBIT are contributing to the support of bitcoin’s price.

The recent data on IBIT reveals a pattern worth noting. BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF has seen uninterrupted net inflows across 20 consecutive trading sessions, the most extended streak observed among its peers for this calendar year. This momentum, combined with mounting investment from institutional actors, underscores increased involvement from traditional finance.

Goldman Sachs, in particular, expanded its holdings by 28% over the first quarter of 2025, now positioning itself as the leading shareholder in the fund. These developments have coincided with over $5 billion in cumulative flows entering IBIT during the same period. The scale of this movement has not only acted as a clear display of appetite for the instrument but also appears to have lent consistent support to bitcoin’s market price.

What we’re seeing, then, is a fusion between tracked investment activity and corresponding price stability. These inflows are more than numbers on a page—they indicate committed capital from institutions that tend not to chase performance, but rather to allocate based on strategic outlooks. When movements of this size occur without visible profit-taking, it suggests an underlying conviction that prices can sustain or even rise from here.

With bitcoin’s price increasingly being linked to ETF volume, monitoring primary holders and fund flows has become far more informative than it was during periods where retail action dominated. As buy-side volume accumulates through structured vehicles like IBIT, the typical playbook must adjust. Rising open interest in related futures markets further hints at recalibrated hedging activity downstream.

Traders who concentrate on volatility in derivative products can take from this that larger, consistent flows into a product like IBIT serve as a dampener against drastic downside shocks. The discipline shown during these inflow sessions partially removes the chance of sharp, sudden unwinding. However, it also means any upside might be less explosive, unless new flows accelerate even further.

One has to be more attentive to options activity clustering around round-number strikes. Where hedging volumes increase, we often find reduced implied volatility once funding stabilises. The predictable inflow rhythm promotes order over disorder—for those attuned to delta or gamma sensitivity, this matters. We’ve noticed this affect short-dated contracts especially, which remain susceptible to even muted underlying moves under such a backdrop.

In recent weeks, the shift in buyer profiles presents a shift in directionality across expiry periods. Where once short-cycle traders led, we are now seeing a pattern where positioning tilts toward longer holds. This shift, when extrapolated through the options chain, softens premium decay and marks a change for those reliant on fast turnover.

It may be worthwhile to re-price future risk not purely based on historical volatility figures, but in closer relation to the consistency of net capital flowing through instruments like IBIT. That can offer a frame to anticipate when premiums are mismatched relative to on-chain or off-chain exposures.

Volume is meaningful when it doesn’t reverse—as we’re witnessing.