On Monday, investors poured millions of dollars into U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds, even as a volatile global market wobbled on widespread sell-offs and recession fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by 2.6%, the S&P 500 by 3%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 3.43, marking the indices’ worst day since September 2022.
Those declines were driven primarily by disappointing U.S. jobs data and shrinking manufacturing activity, which heightened recession fears.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index also plummeted by over 12%, its largest single-day drop since 1987 following the Bank of Japan's unexpected decision to raise interest rates last month.
Despite the turbulent backdrop, Ethereum ETFs saw a positive daily net inflow on Monday, totaling $48.7 million, according to SoSoValue data.
That marks the second-largest daily inflow since the funds were greenlit on July 23. Ethereum has bounced back from Monday's sell-off, up more than 10% to $2,552, according to CoinGecko data.
"ETFs are going to become an increasingly important bellwether for the health of the crypto market," Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at crypto exchange Swyftx, told Decrypt.
"The market had an epic temper tantrum yesterday and we saw pockets of indiscriminate selling that resulted in huge liquidation events," he said. "Meanwhile, you have ETF investors with long-term strategies calmly buying Ethereum."
Even with its strong daily performance, the cumulative total net inflow remains at -$461.98 million, reflecting the significant outflows experienced in previous weeks.
Cumulative net inflows show the overall trend of capital entering or leaving the ETFs. Essentially, it's the sum of all the daily net inflows up to and including a given date.
Like Bitcoin before, Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF continues to drag on cumulative inflows, accounting for a cumulative net figure of -$2.16 billion.
All other eight funds listed, including Fidelity's and BlackRock's, have recorded positive daily and cumulative net inflows since their launch two weeks ago.
While there is renewed interest in Ethereum ETFs, the overall sentiment remains cautious, Hundal said.
"If inflows remain strong or steady, it is a good indicator that the smart money expects this to be a short-lived market correction," Hundal said. "If we start to see sustained outflows or inactivity, it could signal the start of something more sinister."
Bitcoin ETFs have also faced substantial fluctuations. On Monday, the asset’s U.S.-based funds recorded a daily net outflow of $168.44 million, contributing to a cumulative total net inflow of $17.34 billion.