Data & Insights: BTC & ETH ETF Demand Down; Also Aptos Activity

TradFi Being Shy

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded just $7.14 billion in volume last week, averaging $1.785 billion in daily volume.
  • This marks the lowest daily average for any week with at least four trading days so far in 2025.
  • Of this total, IBIT accounted for over 72% or nearly $5.2 billion of the week’s daily average, followed by FBTC with ~12%.
• Granted, the week only consisted of four trading days due to the Easter Friday holiday, so a week-over-week decline was somewhat anticipated.
  • However, when extrapolating last week’s 4-day trading volume into a full 5-day week, by calculating the 4-day average and applying it to a fifth day, a clearer trend emerges.
  • The projected 5-day total, including the estimated fifth day, came out to be $8.9 billion, ~58% lower than the previous week’s full 5-day volume.
• In terms of flows, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $276 million in inflows coupled with $262 million in outflows, resulting in a net inflow of just under $14 million for the week.
  • Notably, most of last week’s outflows occurred on Thursday, 16 April 2025, with $113.8 million leaving FBTC and another $113.2 million withdrawn from ARKB.

Downtrending MOVEs

• The 7-day moving average (7DMA) of the number of active addresses on Aptos has dropped to a yearly low of approximately 644K.
  • This marks its lowest level since the third week of November 2024 and continues a sharp downtrend that began after hitting an all-time high in February 2025.
  • Specifically, on 1 February 2025, the figure peaked at 1.56 million after a steady seven-month climb that saw gradual and consistent growth.
  • However, in the 3 months since that peak, active addresses have fallen by over 40%.
• Meanwhile, the 7DMA of the number of new addresses on Aptos has followed a similar pattern
  • From August 2024 to February 2025, this figure rose steadily to a record high of 525K new addresses on 1 February 2025.
  • Since then, this figure has experienced an even steeper decline of over 80% over the past three months.
• The parallel drop in both active and new addresses strongly suggests that the rise in user activity during the August 2024 to February 2025 period was heavily driven by newly created addresses that lacked long-term retention.
  • In other words, much of the address growth appears to have been “non-sticky,” failing to translate into meaningful user engagement.
  • This implies a surge of low-value addresses, such as bots, airdrop farmers, or short-term opportunistic participants, rather than genuine, recurring user growth.
• The price of the APT token itself has declined by over 35% since 1 February 2025.

ETH ETFs AUM ATL

• Paired with lowered volumes, spot Ethereum ETF assets under management (AUM) have plummeted to $4.57 billion as of April 18, 2025, marking an all-time low for these registered products since their inception.
  • The ETFs have experienced seven consecutive weeks of net outflows, with a staggering $1.1 billion withdrawn during this period.
• Grayscale's ETHE has been a significant source of the outflows, with investors likely deterred by its 2.5% management fee compared to BlackRock's more competitive 0.25% fee structure.
  • Like its Bitcoin counterpart, GBTC, ETHE also faced significant redemptions as investors migrated to lower-cost alternatives following the expiration of mandatory lock-in periods.
  • The fee differential creates significant drag for long-term holders, especially in a price-sensitive market environment.
• The ETH ETF performance stands in stark contrast to Bitcoin ETFs, which have managed to maintain a stronger grip on AUM despite market volatility.
  • While BTC ETFs benefited from clear "digital gold" narratives and better institutional understanding, ETH's more complex value proposition as a network token may be contributing to investor hesitancy.
  • The SEC's cautious stance on staking for ETH ETFs has also removed a key yield component that many investors find attractive in the native token.
• A growing pipeline of new crypto ETF filings for tokens like SOL, XRP, and LTC could further fragment institutional capital allocation.
  • With each new product launch, the crypto ETF market risks dilution, potentially spreading institutional interest too thin across multiple products.
  • This proliferation might lead to a situation where none of the alt-token ETFs achieve critical mass in terms of AUM, making them less attractive for institutional portfolio allocation.

USDC Over USDT

• USDC supply has climbed to just under $61 billion as of April 19, 2025, representing a remarkable $17 billion increase from its $44 billion starting point at the beginning of the year, even as total stablecoin supply reaches $226 billion.
  • This 38.6% growth in USDC supply year-to-date contrasts with USDT's more modest expansion from $138 billion to $145 billion during the same period.
  • Ethereum remains the dominant chain for stablecoins, hosting $130 billion of the $226 billion total supply, with the remaining scattered across other blockchains, notably TRON and Solana. 
• USDC's accelerated growth appears increasingly tied to its regulatory clarity and institutional appeal, particularly as Circle advances plans for a potential IPO.
  • The company's transparent reserve practices and compliance framework have made USDC the preferred stablecoin for regulated entities in the US and EU markets.
  • Circle's IPO ambitions reflect broader attempts to bridge traditional finance with crypto, potentially further cementing USDC's position as the stablecoin of choice for institutional players.
• The widening growth gap between USDC and USDT signals a stronger stablecoin market preference.
  • Despite USDT still maintaining its overall dominance, regulated entities and DeFi protocols are showing a clearer preference for USDC, particularly as regulatory clarity has set clearer guidelines for stablecoin issuers like Circle.
  • The near 1:1 exchange ratio between USDT and USDC has enabled seamless migration for participants to hold the stablecoin of their choice. 

Everybody Forgot About These?

• Football (or soccer if you’re American) teams Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), FC Barcelona and Inter Milan all progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League last week.
  • Their official crypto fan tokens that were launched with Chiliz did not respond or move in any meaningful way following their respective teams’ progression in the most prestigious club football (soccer) competition on the planet.
  • PSG and FC Barcelona progressed on Tuesday, 15 April 2025, and since then, their respective fan tokens, $PSG and $BAR, have increased by 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
  • Meanwhile, Inter Milan advanced the following day and the $INTER token has since declined by 1%.
  • It is worth noting that these marginal price moves are largely irrelevant, as fan tokens tend to trade with extremely thin liquidity, averaging just low-7 figures in daily volume.
  • For further context, both the $PSG and $BAR tokens have similar market capitalizations of roughly $15 million, while the $INTER token sits at a $6.8 million market cap.
• There is a 75% chance a team with a crypto fan token will win this year’s UEFA Champions League.
  • Interestingly, the last time this happened was 2 years ago, when English team Manchester City lifted the trophy in 2023.
  • Notably, the $CITY token actually dropped by roughly 30% on the day of their victory.
• For context, fan tokens of sports teams are cryptocurrencies launched in partnership with Chiliz via Socios that allow holders to engage in light governance decisions, access exclusive team experiences, and show digital support for their club.
  • Though they often function more like branded loyalty points than investment-grade assets, evidenced by the lack of responsiveness towards their teams in the last week.