Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas on Tuesday argued that spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ETFs have solved one of the asset’s biggest adoption problems by increasingly embedding the asset in traditional investment portfolios.

Why ETF Inflows Matter

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) continues to dominate Bitcoin ETF inflows, with total assets across the products nearing $100 billion in August.

Balchunas said Tuesday that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) remains the category’s standout product, but noted that inflows are increasingly broad-based across multiple issuers.

"When you see all of them taking money, then you know people are into Bitcoin," he told Scott Melker in an interview.

Balchunas estimates only a small portion of IBIT flows, potentially around 2% to 3%, comes from investors converting Bitcoin held directly into ETF shares.

Balchunas also highlighted that IBIT has slightly outperformed Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF since its launch despite Bitcoin prices suffering a roughly 50% drawdown along the way.

BTC Has Now a Durable Bid

Balchunas said ETFs have effectively fixed Bitcoin’s intermediary problem as they grant access to investors through the same infrastructure they already use for stocks and bonds. That could make flows stickier.

Balchunas pointed to TradFi ETF investors as generally long-term oriented attracting capital even during major stock-market declines.

For Bitcoin, that creates a potentially more durable institutional and wealth-management bid than the market had in earlier cycles.

For a traditional portfolio, Balchunas sees roughly a 3% BTC allocation as a potential “sweet spot,” large enough to matter if Bitcoin appreciates sharply but small enough to limit damage from another severe drawdown.

The Debasement Trade Remains Key

Balchunas said Bitcoin’s underlying investment case still matters more than the ETF structure itself.

He described Bitcoin’s two core attributes as debasement resistance and censorship resistance wherein the former is the stronger Wall Street narrative.

Growing government debt, intervention in bond markets and persistent inflation concerns are reinforcing BTC’s appeal as an alternative store of value alongside gold.

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