What's the market setup when institutional ETF inflows ease off during the US trading window? The narrative flips—spot demand thins out, and we watch the perp traders take command of price action. When the ETF buyers step back, you're left with leveraged long and short positions wrestling over direction. It's the difference between structural bid support and pure derivatives speculation. The chart data tells the story: once those consistent ETF flows dry up, volatility picks up and the game becomes about who's managing leverage better. That's when smaller moves turn into bigger swings.