Are people relying too much on ETFs for Bitcoin growth?

[crwth]

I think the way people see ETFs now is that it's a way to get more people involved, with funds that can be allocated to crypto ETFs. It's another source of liquidity, which is why it's being credited as the main driver of the price increase.

This is different from derivatives and wouldn't rely on margins and leverage. This influences spot markets, so I think it is a good driving force as well.

[yhiaali3]

It is a big mistake to link Bitcoin to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), although many ordinary people and analysts are doing so now, but it is a big mistake and they should know that ETFs are not an intrinsic part of Bitcoin and are just one factor among a group of factors that affect Bitcoin.

ETFs provide great liquidity to the market because people are too lazy to hold Bitcoin themselves and leave the task to centralized companies that are the real owners. This is why these funds have grown and played a major role in the market.

[Alpha Marine]

I think they did have influence in the bull run in 2021, but they were much less one of the main factors than in 2024, because of course the US market is much more important. But also in 2024 I think the ETFs were only the main driver in a short period, basically it was a "buy the rumours" event. When the ETFs finally launched, the rally continued a bit more but then waned because the inflows were still rather weak.

Yeah, I agree with this. The US ETF was the main reason we were able to get to a new ATH of 71k before the halving. At that point, it brought in a lot of hype and "hope", so the price just kept on increasing, because even before it was approved, there were rumours that it would be approved, and that created a demand that made the price start to climb. But it was only for a short time. As usual, people exegerrated it's impact and predicted that we would see Bitcoin at $200k because of the ETF approval, but they were evidently wrong.
If I remember correctly, the price dropped back to the 60k region and stayed in that region till months after the halving,, till like November, when it started to climb above  70k again.

So yeah, the US ETF approval had a big impact, it probably was what pushed us to a new ATH of 72k at the time, but the halving had a bigger impact. The hype of the ETF was short.

[Smack That Ace]

So yeah, the US ETF approval had a big impact, it probably was what pushed us to a new ATH of 72k at the time, but the halving had a bigger impact. The hype of the ETF was short.

The 2024 bull market is a combination of many different factors, no single factor is considered a decisive or dominant force. We have ETF, halving, a president who supports Bitcoin, strategic Bitcoin reserves…All these factors contributed to market excitement and pushed the price of Bitcoin up to $126k.

No factor should be underestimated, including ETF, because the interest they receive in the market shows no sign of waning. Hundreds of millions and billions of dollars are still pouring into bitcoin every day/month through ETFs.

[icebar]

There are many who consider ETFs to be a driving force for Bitcoin price growth, but in reality, ETFs do not have much significance in the long run. ETFs allow some short-term investors to increase liquidity in the market. Sometimes, increasing liquidity and sometimes changing the price of Bitcoin in the market temporarily, but in the long run, that change is not much worthy. Because they give up their Bitcoin for a small profit. They do not intend to hold Bitcoin for the long term. The price of Bitcoin increases because of ordinary long-term holders or institutional long-term investors. If we look at the overall aspect, ETFs have greatly increased the awareness of Bitcoin, which is a positive aspect for Bitcoin.

[tygeade]

Nobody "relies" on ETF in my opinion, that's another thing which is helping us and there is nothing wrong with that, but that doesn't mean that we are going to just rely on a single way of investing with bitcoins. Retail and whales are still buying it up, that's not ending, and sometimes it goes down, and sometimes it goes up, just like any market in the world.

There is reason for why majority of people prefer ETF over real buying and holding of bitcoin, ETF is as simple as buying stocks. You just need zero knowledge on basics of bitcoin like how to securely hold or what is bitcoin address and how to safely secure its privatekeys kind of all bitcoin related things get nullified when you choose ETF. So, for lazy and older generations, ETF may sound like highly encouraging way of investing with bitcoin as it saves time and eliminates the need of studying the basics of bitcoin handling.

[dansus021]

Are people relying too much on ETFs for Bitcoin growth? You was right that people focus heavily on the daily inflows, I mean this one became a major headline and source from X to other mainstream media, inflow and outflow became common news.

This is a new normal in 2025-2026 and yes ETFs are still one of the primary engine for the current price move to $80,000 but I dont think this because ETF alone. In my opinion the fuel is still scarcity and the halving cycles. The ETFs just make the engine run much faster. However, you're 10000% right that ETF buyers are just 'price passengers.' They don't strengthen the decentralization of the network. If we rely only on ETFs, we risk Bitcoin becoming just another a tech stock.


There is actually a meme about this one, haha what do you think?

[JeffBrad12]

There is actually a meme about this one, haha what do you think?

Can't blame the market for acting that way because we've been getting influx of tradfi traders into the market and as always they are more focused on the finance aspect of bitcoin rather than its true utility .
The meme is accurate and reflect what's wrong with current market, everybody is hyperfocused on that green numbers.

[Alpen]

Lately I see many people talking about Bitcoin ETFs and how they are moving the market. It’s true they bring new money. Big investors can buy Bitcoin easily through ETFs without using exchanges or wallets. That makes it easier for funds and institutions to enter. We can also see that on days when ETF inflows are strong, price often moves up quickly. And when inflows slow down or turn negative, the market also becomes weaker. So in the short term, ETFs clearly have an impact .
But I feel like people are focusing on this too much. Before ETFs, Bitcoin was already growing. It moved because of adoption, halvings, and overall market cycles.
Another point is that ETF demand can change depending on market conditions. If the economy becomes uncertain, flows may slow down. Also, ETF buyers don’t really use Bitcoin, they just get exposure to the price. For me, ETFs are important, but not the only factor. Long term value still depends more on adoption, network strength, and trust.

What do you think 
Are ETFs the main driver now, or just one part of the bigger picture?

Long before ETFs, Bitcoin was pumping for the exact same reason it is now: massive institutional capital inflows. Back then, it was Asian institutions flooding the market through USDT and sending BTC to the moon—a phenomenon even Nouriel Roubini's research famously documented.

Fast forward to today, US investors have essentially taken the torch from Asia, and buying ETF shares has simply replaced routing money through USDT. The wrapper changed, but the underlying driver remains the same

[BALIK]

There is actually a meme about this one, haha what do you think?

Can't blame the market for acting that way because we've been getting influx of tradfi traders into the market and as always they are more focused on the finance aspect of bitcoin rather than its true utility .
The meme is accurate and reflect what's wrong with current market, everybody is hyperfocused on that green numbers.

Do not just blame them because we want those things too. We want the government to legalize it, we want organizations and corporations to invest in it, and we want it to become a strategic reserve asset…Because all we want is the financial side, we want it to go up 10x or 20x to bring wealth, not only to them.

In reality, not many people care about the utility or use cases of Bitcoin, including us.

[Nathrixxx]

People don't rely on ETF for bitcoin growth, you only have something like a coincidence during the last bullrun, whereby the market make it to all-time high as a reason of the ETF approval, as a matter of fact, it's needed us more than Bitcoin is in need of ETF to make performance as expected, everything about bitcoin network has been made complete with respect to the demand and supply.