Crypto investment products offered by asset managers such as Ark Invest, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, ProShares, and 21Shares registered their fourth week of consecutive inflows, adding $598 million globally last week, according to CoinShares.

Year-to-date inflows have now exceeded $5.7 billion — led by the new spot Bitcoin BTC -0.29% exchange-traded funds in the United States — accounting for more than 50% of the record inflows generated in the whole of 2021, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill wrote.

Total assets under management in the funds hit a peak of $68.3 billion during the week, though this remains more than 20% below the all-time high set in November 2021, Butterfill added — mirroring Bitcoin’s price action during the period.

AUM and cumulative flows. Image: CoinShares.

Focus remains on US and spot Bitcoin ETFs

Regionally, U.S.-based funds generated the largest inflows, adding some $610 million overall despite $436 million worth of outflows from the incumbent issuer Grayscale. Brazil and Switzerland registered minor inflows of $8.2 million and $2.1 million, respectively. The Canadian market witnessed the largest outflows from digital asset investment products, shedding $17.8 million.

Bitcoin-based funds generated $570 million worth of inflows last week — boosted by more than $588 million in net flows from spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. — bringing year-to-date inflows to $5.6 billion. Total net flows for the spot Bitcoin ETFs alone — which launched on Jan. 11 — now stand at over $5.5 billion, according to data from BitMEX Research.

However, recent price action has “prompted minor inflows into short-Bitcoin positions which totaled $3.9 million,” Butterfill added.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $51,171, according to The Block’s price page — down 2.3% over the past week and up 21% year-to-date.

BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.

Ether investment products registered $17 million worth of inflows last week amid a period of outperformance against Bitcoin, gaining 5% over the past seven days to trade at $3,050. Chainlink LINK +0.87% and XRP -0.66% -based funds saw the next largest inflows, adding $1.8 million and $1.1 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, Solana SOL +1.99% investment products witnessed a second week of outflows totaling $3 million, with Butterfill again citing the network’s recent temporary downtime as impacting sentiment amid a 10% drop in Solana’s price last week to $101.

The GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, traded flat over the past week, down around 0.5%.

GMCI 30 Index. Image: The Block/TradingView.

Blockchain equities saw continued outflows of $81 million for the week, suggesting equity investors are a little cautious at present, Butterfill said.