ETF Hype Moderating Despite Record $13.8 Billion YTD Inflows to Crypto Funds: CoinShares – Unchained

The appetite from investors for crypto ETFs appears to be moderating based on the pace of weekly inflows.

It was a turnaround last week for global crypto funds which recorded $646 million in net inflows, according to data from CoinShares. 

That number, coupled with the $862 million worth of inflows recorded the week prior, somewhat offset the record $942 million worth of outflows that crypto asset managers saw the week of March 25.

Inflows into digital asset investment products now stand at a record $13.8 billion year to date, surpassing the $10.6 billion seen during the bull market of 2021. 

Still, CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill said there are now signs that hype driven by spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is now moderating, given that the crypto-focused funds are not achieving the weekly flow levels seen early last month. Trading volumes across these products have also declined to $17.4 billion — far lower than the $43 billion recorded in the first week of March.

“Bitcoin remains the focus, seeing inflows totalling $663m, while short-bitcoin investment products saw outflows for the 3rd week in a row totalling $9.5m, suggesting minor capitulation amongst bearish investors,”  Butterfill said.

Specifically, on the ETF front, Grayscale’s GBTC spot bitcoin ETF saw $303 million worth of outflows within the last day, outpacing the cumulative net inflows into bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark/21Shares and Bitwise.

With the halving soon approaching, some industry watchers expect the decrease in supply, coupled with strong ETF demand could lead to a surge in the price of bitcoin. Former BitMEX CEO and long-time Bitcoin advocate Arthur Hayes has predicted that the opposite will happen this time around. 

“The narrative of the halving being positive for crypto prices is well entrenched,” wrote Hayes in his latest blog. “When most market participants agree on a certain outcome, the opposite usually occurs. That is why I believe Bitcoin and crypto prices in general will slump around the halving.”