$1.5T and counting: Here’s how 2026’s ETFs beat 2025’s record flows

The crypto market has seen a change of rhythm in the last 24 hours, and the ETFs are no exception. According to SoSo Value data, crypto ETF flows across different digital assets saw an uptick over the said period.

Crypto ETF inflow analysis

Bitcoin [BTC] led by a wide margin with $433.03 million in inflows, followed by Ethereum [ETH] at $143.80 million. Solana [SOL] also recorded a strong $47.62 million in inflows, while Zcash [$ZEC] saw $37.67 million, indicating notable investor demand for these products.

In fact, Grayscale’s recently launched Spot $ZEC ETF has attracted significant investor interest in a very short period. The ETF was launched less than a month ago and yet, it has already recorded stronger inflows than many other altcoin ETFs.

Hyperliquid [HYPE] and Chainlink [LINK] recorded smaller inflows of $1.03 million and $2.19 million, respectively. On the contrary, $XRP was the only asset with outflows of around $43.70K, hinting at relatively weaker flows for $XRP during the period.

Balchunas applauds ETFs’ success rate

This surge in inflows also got Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas saying,

ETFs have now surpassed last year’s record flows of $1.5T with 3.5mo to spare.

To put that growth into perspective, Balchunas claimed that around 20 years ago, when he started covering ETFs, $100 billion in annual flows was considered a very strong year. Today, ETFs are attracting more than $100 billion every month, equivalent to roughly $8.5 billion in flows per trading day.

What’s notable here is that this surge happened despite 2026 being a tough year for crypto. Middle Eastern tensions, increasing oil prices, Fed rate hikes, and the CLARITY Act setback have already put a lot of strain on the crypto market. And yet, 2026 was able to surpass last year’s record flows.

Take the last few months, for example. After a strong August rally, when crypto ETFs recorded billions in inflows, September brought renewed selling pressure. And yet, that was just temporary.

Coinbase bets on ETFs

Balchunas’s latest comment came soon after Coinbase Derivatives filed with the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch cash-settled perpetual Futures tied to individual U.S-listed stocks and ETFs.

Here, Coinbase wants to let eligible U.S traders gain leveraged exposure to assets such as individual stocks or ETFs without directly buying the underlying securities.

These contracts would be structured as security Futures products, meaning they would fall under the regulatory framework jointly overseen by the CFTC and SEC.

If approved, the move would expand Coinbase’s derivatives offering beyond crypto and create a regulated U.S venue. Indeed, traders would also get a chance to take long or short positions on individual stocks and ETFs through perpetual-style contracts.

There is optimism elsewhere too. For instance, Japan-based DeFi asset manager xWin Finance believes that Japan’s Spot Bitcoin ETFs could attract up to $18.4 billion.

Final Summary

• Grayscale’s Zcash ($ZEC) ETF has attracted significant investor interest in a very short period.
• Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the U.S CFTC to launch cash-settled perpetual Futures tied to individual U.S-listed stocks and ETFs.