Altcoin spot volume reaches 4x Bitcoin’s as Bitcoin ETF inflows plunge 86.5% in five days
Altcoin spot volume has climbed to nearly four times Bitcoin’s turnover, the widest gap since September 2025, even as inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs shrank across five straight trading sessions. For institutional investors, the split matters because regulated ETF buyers are absorbing the Bitcoin that retail traders are selling on OTC desks to fund the rotation, a chain that only holds together if ETF demand keeps up.
- Altcoin/Bitcoin spot volume ratio hit nearly 4x, the highest reading since September 2025, per Glassnode.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $2.386 billion over five sessions, but daily inflows fell 86.5%, from $999 million to $134.5 million.
- 72.5% of tracked altcoins outperformed Bitcoin through Sept. 23, up from 39% during August’s squeeze.
- 4x altcoin-to-Bitcoin spot volume ratio, highest since September 2025
- 72.5% share of altcoins beating Bitcoin, up from 39% in August
- $134.5M Sept. 25 ETF inflow, down 86.5% from $999M four days earlier
Altcoin trading volume relative to Bitcoin has reached nearly 4x, its highest ratio since September 2025, according to Glassnode data cited in a report by CryptoSlate. Wintermute said retail clients on its OTC desk sold Bitcoin last week to fund that rotation into altcoins, even as US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in roughly $2.4 billion over the five trading days between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, 2025 (Monday through Friday).
Daily ETF inflows fell every session, from $999 million on Sept. 21 to $134.5 million on Sept. 25, an 86.5% drop over four trading days. Wintermute’s Sept. 28 OTC report described net BTC selling on its desk, driven mainly by retail clients taking profits and rotating into altcoins.
Wintermute Ties Falling ETF Demand to Retail Profit-Taking
The five-session ETF total of $2.386 billion averaged about $477 million a day, and Glassnode’s own rolling weekly reading came in near $2.7 billion, the largest weekly inflow in almost a year. Ethereum ETFs took in $602.8 million over the same span, meaning Bitcoin products captured roughly 80% of combined BTC and ETH ETF demand even as the daily Bitcoin pace slowed.
Beneath those headline inflows, <a href="https://research.glassnode.com/btc-
