Bitcoin Price Rallies on ₱77.68 billion ($1.3 billion) ETF Inflows While On-Chain Fees Plummet
Bitcoin's price recovery is increasingly decoupled from blockchain activity. While spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in ₱77.68 billion ($1.3 billion) net in April through platforms like Farside, median transaction fees dropped to 1.00 sat/vB as on-chain usage collapsed to pre-Ordinals levels.
Key Takeaway
ETF demand now drives Bitcoin price while blockchain usage stalls — financialization has decoupled price from network activity.
Bitcoin traded at $70,990 on April 9 while on-chain activity collapsed to levels unseen since before the Ordinals boom.
The disconnect is stark. During the March 19-26 period, miners collected just 18.03 BTC in fees across 1,028 blocks. That's an average of 0.0175 BTC per block. Fees represented just 0.56% of miner revenue, with the remaining 3,212.5 BTC coming from block subsidies. Median fee rates opened at 1.13 sat/vB and dropped to 1.00 sat/vB for the rest of the week.
ETF flows tell a different story. Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in ₱28.17 billion ($471.4 million) on April 6 alone. Outflows followed on April 7 and 8 at ₱9.51 billion ($159.1 million) and ₱7.44 billion ($124.5 million) respectively, but April's net inflows still hit $1.3 billion according to Farside data. More Bitcoin demand is being expressed through financial wrappers and broker channels than through users competing for block space on-chain.
Glassnode flagged the shift in its April 1 weekly market note. The analytics firm said spot demand was showing early signs of absorption while still lacking the conviction needed for a sustained breakout. Bitcoin has traded in a range between $60,000 and $70,000, with dense overhead supply sitting between $80,000 and $100,000. Price can recover even while on-chain urgency remains muted.
The speculative traffic that once crowded the chain has cooled. Ordinals and Runes drove mempool pressure during their peak in March and the 2024 halving period, but that demand faded. Binance listed Bitcoin Ordinals recently, but the market response hasn't revived on-chain activity. Long-term holders moved 1.36 million BTC into ETF accumulation channels by late 2025, while coin days destroyed hit a record high in Q4 2025 as holders sold into institutional demand.
Bitcoin is now split across two systems: one moves price through funds and adviser platforms, the other moves transactions through the blockchain itself. The seven-day price change stood at 6.11% on April 9, while the 30-day change barely moved at 0.85%.
This article was written based on reporting from CryptoSlate.
