Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs just had their biggest week of 2026 as crypto exploded higher

Record ETF Inflows Fueled by Crypto Rally

US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded their strongest inflow week of 2026 as a sharp crypto rally pulled investors back into funds that had struggled to attract sustained demand for much of the year, according to CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.918 billion in the five trading sessions through Aug. 21, while funds holding Ethereum attracted $697.2 million, according to SoSoValue data, as reported by CryptoSlate. The combined $2.6 billion intake was the strongest for the two groups in about 10 months. Bitcoin funds recorded inflows every day during the week, pushing cumulative net subscriptions since their January 2024 debut to $53.7 billion. The weekly total was their largest since the market selloff in October 2025. Ethereum funds also had their best showing since October, when they attracted nearly $1.3 billion during the week ended Oct. 3.

Bitcoin gained more than 23% this week to trade around $77,559, briefly topping $79,000 on Friday, as reported by Cointelegraph. Charting platform Barchart highlighted that Bitcoin's price had crossed above its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025, a technical indicator widely used to gauge longer-term market trends. Ethereum gained 31%, Solana gained 28%, and XRP surged 53%, according to Cointelegraph.

Macro and Policy Catalysts Converge

The rally and accompanying ETF inflows were fueled by a rare convergence of macro and policy catalysts, including falling Treasury yields, fresh White House support for crypto, and a regulatory push from the SEC and CFTC, according to CryptoSlate. Bitcoin's rally accelerated after the US Treasury said Aug. 19 it would double the maximum size of liquidity-support buybacks for 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year securities to at least $4 billion per operation. Long-term yields fell after the announcement, easing financial conditions and lifting demand for Bitcoin and other risk assets.

Market momentum further strengthened after President Donald Trump met crypto executives at the White House and said the US was considering accumulating large amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, though the comments did not create new authority for open-market purchases, as noted by CryptoSlate.

In Washington, the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on Aug. 18, its first tailored framework for crypto fundraising, including exemptions and a conditional safe harbor, according to Cointelegraph. The proposal would allow crypto projects to issue up to $5 million in tokens during a four-year period, and up to $75 million during a 12-month period with stricter reporting and structure rules. Two days later, the CFTC convened the first meeting of its Innovation Advisory Committee on Aug. 20, with executives from Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, and BitGo, as reported by CryptoSlate.

Investor Sentiment and Analyst Views

The rally drew fresh investment rather than relying solely on short covering, with billions of dollars of leveraged short positions liquidated as prices accelerated, according to CryptoSlate. On-chain analytics firm Ecoinometrics said ETF demand had been gradually recovering during August but remained modest until the final sessions of the week, when buying accelerated alongside the technical breakout. Ecoinometrics' model places Bitcoin in a supported range of roughly $67,000 to $78,000, with an estimated fair value near $72,000, and suggested continued ETF buying could lift that range further if rising prices bring trend-following investors back into the market.

Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick said Bitcoin may move toward its all-time high of $126,000 before the end of the year, with his year-end forecast of $100,000 possibly too low, as reported by Cointelegraph. "For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low," Kendrick wrote. Cointelegraph also reported that Bitget CEO Gracy Chen, however, expects Bitcoin to remain broadly around current levels for the end of the year, citing interest rates and macroeconomic conditions, with the token potentially finishing the year $10,000 to $20,000 above or below current levels.

Market Context: Debt, Trump, and Altcoin Moves

Cointelegraph also reported that the US federal debt crossed $40 trillion this week, with the annual interest cost exceeding Medicare and second only to social security. The Kobeissi Letter attributed the rapid gains in precious metals and crypto to a combination of inflation, deficit spending, and US Treasury policy, including the debt buyback expansion. Ray Dalio believes investors should allocate 15% of their portfolios to gold and "a bit of Bitcoin" for a future US debt crisis, which he guessed "will come in three years, give or take two, if the course we're on is not changed."

In other news from Cointelegraph, President Trump called for passage of the CLARITY Act after meeting with crypto executives including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The market structure bill passed the House of Representatives in July 2025 and is up for a procedural vote on September 15 requiring 60 votes in favor. Trump said the act is "very bipartisan" and that "a lot of Democrats support" it. Senator Ruben Gallego said "the president doesn't just get to decide what level of regulation he gets."

Trump also revealed that CFTC chair Mike Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a compliant manner, boosting its price by 20%. The CFTC chair said he would direct staff to propose crypto rules if the CLARITY Act fails, including allowing leveraged or margined crypto trading. "We're going to give CLARITY its breathing room for a vote, but if the Democrats cannot support ... I will direct CFTC staff to move swiftly to propose these new rules," Selig said.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,166 people found that 63% of respondents said it was not appropriate for Trump and his family to earn billions from cryptocurrency investments, with 92% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans polled responding negatively.

MANTRA Token Hits Record Low, Network Resumes

In a separate market event, MANTRA's token sank to an all-time low of $0.004126 around 11:00 pm UTC on Thursday before MANTRA Chain halted over an unexplained incident. MANTRA said on Aug. 22 that a "vulnerability in the Cosmos-EVM module has been fixed, the network has resumed, and no user funds were affected."