Time lag limits price impact of spot Bitcoin ETF inflows

Despite approximately $1.4 billion flowing into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past five days, the price of BTC has shown little movement. An analysis from Bitfinex suggests this is due to the structure of ETFs, where fund inflows do not immediately translate into spot purchases. According to the report, cited by CoinDesk, Authorized Participants (APs) can handle trades by first short-selling ETF shares and only later purchasing the underlying Bitcoin. This process creates a time lag between the recorded ETF inflow and the actual spot market purchase, which can limit upward pressure on the asset's price.