Digital asset investment products continue to attract significant inflows, with $185 million pouring in last week. This marks the fourth consecutive week of positive investment trends in this sector. In total, these products have attracted a staggering $2 billion in inflows throughout May, pushing year-to-date inflows over the $15 billion mark and setting a new all-time high, according to a recent report from CoinShares.
While weekly volumes saw a decline, dropping to $8 billion compared to the previous week’s $13 billion, the consistent inflows demonstrate the sustained interest among investors in digital assets. The United States dominated these inflows, attracting a net total of $130 million. However, incumbent ETF issuers faced outflows amounting to $260 million. Switzerland witnessed its second-largest weekly inflows this year, totaling $36 million, while Canada experienced a turnaround with $25 million in inflows, despite a net outflow of $39 million in May.
Bitcoin remains a popular choice among investors, with $148 million flowing into the cryptocurrency. On the other hand, short-bitcoin products experienced outflows of $3.5 million, indicating positive sentiment among ETF investors. Ethereum saw a significant shift in investor sentiment, recording a second consecutive week of inflows. This change followed the SEC’s approval of a spot-based ETF, set to launch in July 2024. Prior to this positive development, Ethereum had experienced ten consecutive weeks of outflows, totaling $200 million. The positive news surrounding Ethereum has also had a positive impact on Solana, with an additional inflow of $5.8 million last week.
However, blockchain equities faced challenges, witnessing outflows of $7.2 million last week and a total outflow of $516 million this year. In contrast, Bitcoin spot ETFs continue to attract significant investor interest, recording fourteen consecutive days of net inflows. On May 31, the total net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $48 million. Grayscale ETF GBTC experienced over $124 million in outflows that day, but this was offset by BlackRock’s $169 million inflows. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has emerged as the world’s largest fund for Bitcoin, accumulating nearly $20 billion in total assets since its listing in the United States earlier this year. Bitcoin ETFs as a whole have amassed a total of $58.5 billion in assets, experiencing remarkable growth driven by Bitcoin’s value quadrupling since the beginning of last year.
While Bitcoin ETFs have seen immense success, Vanguard Group, the world’s second-largest asset manager, has firmly stated its lack of plans to offer any crypto-related products. This emphasizes the cautious approach taken by some institutions in the face of digital asset market volatility.
