Bitcoin Hovers Below $65,000 as Strong ETF Inflows Counteract Network Fork Concerns

Bitcoin traded below the $65,000 level over the weekend, experiencing a minor pullback as the market weighed strong inflows into U.S. cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds against uncertainty surrounding a stalled network fork. As of Sunday morning, Bitcoin was priced at $64,800.9, a decline of 0.28% over the previous 24 hours, according to Investing.com data.

ETF Inflows Show Renewed Investor Interest

U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs registered their strongest week since April, attracting a combined $1.1 billion in fresh capital. This influx occurred despite overall trading activity remaining near multi-year lows, suggesting a concentrated return of institutional interest.

Key inflow figures for the week ending Friday include:

• $853.5 million into spot Bitcoin funds over five consecutive positive sessions.
• $693.7 million of that total went to BlackRock’s IBIT, representing over 80% of the Bitcoin ETF inflows.
• $244.9 million flowed into spot Ether ETFs, marking their fifth straight week of net inflows.

However, this recent demand has not yet erased year-to-date losses. Since January, Bitcoin ETFs have seen net outflows of approximately $4.44 billion, while Ether products have lost around $873 million.

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Controversial Fork Falters

Counterbalancing the positive fund flow data is the effective failure of the controversial BIP-110 fork. The proposal, which aims to restrict non-payment data in Bitcoin transactions, has stalled due to a severe lack of support from miners. The breakaway chain has struggled to produce blocks, generating only two in an eight-hour period while the main Bitcoin network advanced by 48 blocks.

Support for the proposal from recently mined blocks stood at just 2.53%, far short of the 55% threshold required for activation. The minority chain inherited Bitcoin's high mining difficulty but lacks the necessary hash power, creating significant operational challenges and exposing users to potential replay attacks.

Market Context

The slight downturn in price toward the weekend followed the release of U.S. payrolls data, which unexpectedly showed a decline of 23,000 jobs against forecasts of an 80,000 increase. The broader crypto market was mixed, with Ether (ETH) down 0.07% to $1,915.52 and other major altcoins showing minor fluctuations in quiet Sunday trading.