The old supply of Bitcoin keeps flowing into ETFs: Data shows three waves so far.

On-chain data shows that the (Bitcoin) exchange-traded funds ETFs have experienced three significant waves of inflows from veteran hands in this cycle.

Destroyed Currency Days skyrocketed alongside net ETF inflows

As explained by the author of CryptoQuant, Maartunn, in a new post on X, Bitcoin has been experiencing significant reorganizations related to old tokens and spot ETFs. These investment vehicles allow investors to gain exposure to BTC without having to directly own the asset.

The BTC ETFs launched in the U.S. in January 2024 have generally enjoyed growth, with some periods involving particularly intense bursts of inflows. The main appeal is that investors unfamiliar with the world of cryptocurrencies can invest in Bitcoin in a way that is convenient for them.

When an investor chooses this vehicle, the fund purchases an equivalent amount of cryptocurrency on behalf of the client, which is reflected as an on-chain movement towards the wallets associated with the ETF.

The graph shared by Maartunn shows the trend in the net flow of Bitcoin ETFs over 30 days since the beginning of 2024.

As shown, the net flow has seen some phases of extremely positive values, corresponding to a high demand for ETFs.

Interestingly, there is a common pattern among these large waves of inflows. In the chart, it is visible that the Coin Days Destroyed (CDD) gave distribution signals along with the net flow peaks.

The CDD is an on-chain indicator that measures the total number of coin days that are being “destroyed” in transactions across the BTC network. A coin day is an amount that a BTC accumulates after remaining inactive on the blockchain for one day. When a token inactive for a certain number of days is moved, its day counter resets to zero.

Generally, the peaks in this metric correspond to the activity of the strong hands in the network. These HODLers tend to accumulate a massive amount of coin days with their patience, so when they finally break their silence, a large-scale destruction of coin days occurs.

The three main waves of net inflows of Bitcoin ETFs in the summer of 2024, fall of 2024, and summer of 2025 coincided with a distribution signal from the CDD, suggesting a rotation of coins from veteran hands to new demand through these vehicles.

Since the last wave, the net flow of ETFs has calmed to a neutral level, meaning that demand has cooled. “ETF inflows are key,” notes Maartunn. “Without strong new demand, the selling pressure from new holders could increase.”

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $110,500, up 2% over the last week.

I am concerned that without significant new inflows into the ETFs, we could see considerable selling pressure. The rotation of coins from veteran HODLers to institutional investors through these vehicles has been crucial to sustain the price, but what will happen when this dynamic runs out? The data suggests that we are at a critical point where we need new demand to avoid deeper corrections.