Crypto funds see over $1 billion in inflows following Bitcoin spot ETF approval

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Investors poured over $1 billion into crypto funds last week after the approval of the first Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, according to today’s digital asset manager CoinShares report.

🟢 ETF approval week inflows: US$1.18 billion.
The record set at the launch of the futures-based #Bitcoin ETFs is not broken, but inflows are significant.

↔️ ETP trading volumes, on the other hand, broke a record, trading US$17.5 billion.

— Main beneficiaries —$BTC: US$1.16… pic.twitter.com/fA0xAwQQer

— CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) January 15, 2024

In their latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, CoinShares revealed that crypto investment products saw over $1.1 billion in inflows last week. This follows the launch of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first Bitcoin ETF tied directly to the cryptocurrency rather than Bitcoin futures contracts.

“As expected, the United States dominated, seeing $1.24 billion of inflows last week,” wrote James Butterfill, CoinShare’s head of research.

Butterfill noted that while inflows did not surpass the previous record set during the debut of Bitcoin futures ETFs last October, trading volumes did hit new highs of $17.5 billion last week – nearly 90% of daily volumes on trusted crypto exchanges.

The bulk of flows went into Bitcoin products, which lured more than $1.1 billion last week – representing 3% of Bitcoin funds’ total assets under management. Ethereum saw $26 million in inflows while XRP and Solana saw relatively small inflows of $2.2 million and $500,000 respectively.

Butterfill suggests some outflows in European crypto funds could be the result of “basis traders” switching into new US-listed products. For example, Germany saw $27 million, Sweden $16 million and Canada $44 million flow out while Switzerland saw $21 million flow back in.

Beyond cryptocurrencies, blockchain-focused equities funds also saw substantial interest, taking in $98 million last week. Total inflows into these stock funds focused on crypto and blockchain companies stood at $608 million over the last 7 weeks.

The surge in activity follows months of anticipation for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US after years of rejection by securities regulators. The ProShares ETF quickly became one of the most heavily traded funds on record soon after its debut.

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