Bitcoin retakes $74,000 as U.S. spot ETFs log $5.3B in trading

Bitcoin's rebound is being reinforced by a surge in institutional participation. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs tallied more than $5.3 billion in trading volume as BTC climbed back above $74,000 for the first time in 86 days. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) drove most of the activity with $4.44 billion in volume. Fidelity's FBTC followed with $438 million, while Grayscale posted $208.8 million. Bitwise, ARK Invest, VanEck, Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, Valkyrie, WisdomTree and Hashdex made up the rest, according to data. Flows also strengthened. The group recorded $517.19 million in net inflows, marking the biggest inflow day since May 4. Eight of the 12 funds saw positive inflows. IBIT led with $284.7 million, followed by ARK and 21Shares' ARKB at $77.7 million and Fidelity's FBTC at $62.4 million. The ETF momentum coincided with a sharp move in the underlying asset: Bitcoin rose about 17% over two days, adding roughly $11,000 and more than $220 billion in market value. The rally also sparked an aggressive short squeeze. More than $3.6 billion in short positions were liquidated over the past 72 hours, including $2.75 billion in Bitcoin shorts on Wednesday. Over the next 24 hours, another $783.2 million in Bitcoin positions were liquidated, with $747.7 million coming from shorts, CoinGlass data showed. Catalysts cited for the move include the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to at least double liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities in the 10- to 30-year segment. Markets also reacted to the SEC's latest crypto proposal, as well as a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and prominent crypto executives. Despite the advance, Bloomberg strategist Mike McGlone remains cautious. He called the move "a bounce within the purge," arguing that August can generate short squeezes even within a broader bear market. McGlone pointed to Bitcoin's volatility and its correlation with equities, saying the risk-reward setup is unattractive for institutions. He also warned that rapid growth across the broader crypto market has created excess supply, and said Bitcoin could roll over by year-end. While supportive of blockchain technology, he added that Bitcoin's original peer-to-peer cash use case has weakened alongside the rise of crypto-dollar alternatives.