Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Strong Demand; Crypto Market Tops $4 Trillion As Gen-A Shuns Gold

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw strong demand this week, recording more than $1.7 billion in inflows before the trading week closes on Friday.

SoSoValue data showed that the ETFs had a strong week, with Wednesday having nearly $800 million in inflows. As of Thursday, the ETF tracker showed that spot Bitcoin ETFs already had $1.7 billion in net inflows this week.

As Ezra Reguerra reports via CoinTelegraph.com, the strong performance marks the ETFs’ biggest weekly total in nearly two months, highlighting renewed confidence in the asset class.

The strong ETF inflows came as Bitcoin climbed back to $115,000, up 4.5% from its $110,000 price last Friday.

Spot Bitcoin ETF daily net inflow data. Source: SoSoValue

Spot Ether ETFs recover from nearly $800 million in outflows

Spot Ether ETFs also had a strong week, recording over $230 million in net inflows as of Thursday. This is a sharp asset class recovery after nearly $800 million in outflows last week.

While ETH ETFs recover, corporate treasury holder BitMine continued to stack up Ether purchases this week. On Monday, BitMine purchased 202,500 ETH, which sent its holdings to the 2 million ETH milestone. The company made a follow-up purchase on Wednesday, buying $200 million in ETH from Bitgo.

Data from the Strategic ETH Reserve website shows that BitMine currently holds over 2 million ETH, worth $9.3 billion at the time of writing.

The ETH data tracker also shows that in total, ETH reserve companies hold nearly 5 million ETH, worth about $22.1 billion.

Meanwhile, ETF issuers hold 6.6 million ETH, worth nearly $30 billion, to back the assets. This means that almost 12 million ETH, nearly 10% of the circulating supply are held by institutions.

CZ compares the crypto market cap to Nvidia

The broader crypto market also crossed $4.1 trillion again this week, a level previously reached in July and August.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao highlighted the milestone on X, comparing the combined value of the entire crypto space to Nvidia, which stands at roughly $4.3 trillion, according to 8marketcap.

“The combined market cap of all future money is less than one chip company’s market cap. You do the math,” Zhao wrote.

Indeed, as Darius Moukhtarzadeh, Research Strategist at 21Shares, writes, Gen Alpha will grow up with Bitcoin as a cultural and financial native, making it their default store of value over traditional gold investments.

Gold has long been considered the ultimate store of value — shiny, scarce and time-tested.

For Gen Alpha, however, the first generation truly born into a digital world, that shine is already starting to fade.

Instead, they’ll grow up with a very different baseline for value, how it moves and where it lives. In reality, Bitcoin won’t just be an investment option; it will be a default for this generation.

Born into a digital world

Unlike previous generations, Gen Alpha won’t discover Bitcoin as something new or revolutionary. They’ll inherit a world where Bitcoin has always existed, present in financial apps, discussed in classrooms and embedded in digital platforms. To them, it won’t feel risky or radical. It will feel normal.

From day one, their experience of value will be digital-first. Physical cash will be rare, as most payments will be cashless. They’ll learn about scarcity through gaming tokens and in-app economies, not gold coins in a drawer. In that context, Bitcoin won’t seem exotic; it will be part of everyday life. On the contrary, gold will be perceived as exotic by Gen Alpha as a yellow stone with historic value.

Bitcoin is easier to access than gold ever was

Gold is hard. You need to buy it from a trusted dealer and store it physically to have complete control. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a few taps away. With child-friendly fintech apps and educational tools already present, Gen Alpha could be exposed to Bitcoin before they even understand how a savings account works.

Access will be seamless through crypto-enabled games, loyalty rewards or allowance apps. The barriers that once made Bitcoin feel technical or inaccessible are rapidly disappearing.

Trust will be earned, not assumed

Where older generations gradually lost faith in institutions, Gen Alpha started from a place of deep skepticism. They’re growing up in an era of economic uncertainty, institutional distrust and algorithmic information. For them, “trust” won’t be given to governments or banks by default; it will have to be earned through transparency.

Bitcoin, by design, fits that worldview. It’s open-source, auditable and decentralized. It doesn’t ask for trust, it allows verification. In a world where the mantra is “don’t trust, verify,” Gen Alpha will naturally gravitate toward systems that don’t require faith in intermediaries.

Bitcoin will be culturally native

Bitcoin is no longer just an asset; it’s part of pop culture. For Gen Alpha, that cultural familiarity will only deepen. They’ll encounter Bitcoin through finance apps, influencers, creators, games and even school programs.

Just like social media was second nature to Gen Z, digital assets will be embedded in Gen Alpha’s online identity. That constant exposure through memes, brands, and mainstream platforms will make Bitcoin feel more culturally relevant than something like gold, which lacks that digital presence.

Bitcoin is programmable

Gold is physical, heavy, and inert. It sits in vaults. It’s hard to move and harder to use. Bitcoin is the opposite. It’s programmable, borderless, divisible and integrated into the broader world of decentralized finance.

As Gen Alpha grows up expecting digital systems to be flexible and responsive, Bitcoin’s dynamic nature will be a feature, not a bonus. It simply fits the world they’ll build and live in.

A generation that won’t need convincing

Every generation reshapes the financial system in its image. Millennials flirted with Bitcoin. Gen Z normalized it. Gen Alpha won’t have to be convinced.

They won’t see Bitcoin as an alternative to the old system. They’ll see it as part of the system. Not because of ideology, but because of familiarity, usability and cultural relevance.

Gold had its moment. Bitcoin is just getting started. Gen Alpha will grow up with it in their wallets, not in a vault.