Institutional buyers might flip their consideration to altcoins as the following wave of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) arrives in america, based on market analysts.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained not less than 5 new altcoin ETF filings through the first half of October, regardless of the continuing US authorities shutdown stalling progress.
Every approval might “open the door for the following wave of institutional shopping for,” mentioned Leon Waidmann, head of analysis at Web3 analytics agency Onchain.
“Altcoin ETF inflows are the inevitable subsequent step after Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs proved institutional demand,” Waidmann informed Cointelegraph. “That is regulatory confidence translating into capital flows.”
Ether ETFs surpass Bitcoin ETF inflows in Q3
Spot Ether (ETH) ETFs attracted $ 9.6 billion in inflows through the third quarter of 2025, surpassing the $8.7 billion generated by spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF inflows, based on data aggregator SosoValue.
That shift alerts growing institutional demand for different crypto publicity.
The pattern might even see the altcoin ETFs catalyzing the following wave of institutional altcoin adoption as new regulated autos, leading to years of sustained inflows, Waidmann mentioned.
“Establishments discovered Bitcoin through ETFs, now they’re shifting into Ethereum, and different altcoins are coming subsequent.”
The trade’s most profitable merchants, tracked as “smart money” merchants on Nansen’s blockchain intelligence platform, are additionally positioning themselves for the approval of altcoin ETFs.
The Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE) and Chainlink (LINK) have been the three most held tokens by sensible cash merchants on Thursday, data from Nansen reveals.
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Nevertheless, some analysts are involved that BlackRock’s absence from the altcoin ETFs will lead to restricted general inflows, as BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has amassed $28.1 billion in investments up to now in 2025, making it the one fund to log constructive year-to-date (YTD) inflows.
With out BlackRock’s fund, the spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a cumulative web outflow of $1.27 billion year-to-date, according to K33’s head of analysis, Vetle Lunde.
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Primarily based on the dynamics seen in Bitcoin ETF investments, BlackRock’s absence from the altcoin ETF wave might restrict cumulative inflows and their potential tailwind impact on the underlying tokens, the researcher defined.
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