Global crypto funds saw record net outflows of nearly $1 billion last week

Quick Take

  • Crypto investment products witnessed record outflows last week, with $942 million exiting funds globally, according to CoinShares.
  • This represents the first weekly net outflows witnessed following a seven-week streak of inflows totaling $12.3 billion.

Crypto funds at asset managers such as BlackRock, Bitwise, Fidelity, Grayscale, ProShares and 21Shares registered record outflows totaling $942 million globally last week, according to CoinShares’ latest report.

Last week’s outflows nearly doubled the prior record of $500 million set toward the end of January and follow a seven-week inflow streak totaling $12.3 billion — including the $2.9 billion of record inflows witnessed during the week before last.

Trading volume for crypto investment products dropped a third to $28 billion for the week while the price correction in the underlying cryptocurrencies saw $10 billion wiped off the funds’ assets under management. The combined AUM remains above prior cycle highs at $88 billion.

Weekly crypto asset flows. Images: CoinShares.

Newborn spot Bitcoin ETFs not enough to offset Grayscale outflows

Over $1 billion worth of inflows into the newborn spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. were not enough to overcome nearly $2 billion in outflows from Grayscale’s converted GBTC fund.

“We believe the recent price correction led to hesitancy from investors, leading to much lower inflows into new ETF issuers in the U.S., which saw $1.1 billion inflows, partially offsetting incumbent Grayscale’s significant $2 billion outflows last week,” CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill wrote.

Given the dominance of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, those funds unsurprisingly led the flows, contributing $904 million, or 96%, of the net outflows last week. Meanwhile, short-bitcoin investment products saw minor outflows of $3.7 million.

Poor sentiment not just focused toward US or bitcoin

Poor sentiment last week was not just focused toward the U.S.-based funds or bitcoin in general. Crypto investment products based in Sweden, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Germany also witnessed outflows of $37 million, $35 million, $25 million and $4 million, respectively. Although, Brazil and Canada-based funds bucked the trend with inflows totaling $9 million and $8.4 million.

Ethereum, Solana and Cardano-based investment products also suffered, generating outflows of $34 million, $5.6 million and $3.7 million, respectively. However, the rest of the altcoin-related funds fared better, registering net inflows of $16 million, including Polkadot ($5 million), Avalanche ($2.9 million) and Litecoin ($2 million).

Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,827 — down 2% over the past week, according to The Block’s price page

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

A decline was also witnessed across the broader crypto market last week, with the GM30 index — representing the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap — falling 10% from 149.65 to a low of 135.35. It has recovered somewhat to trade at 150.77.


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© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

James Hunt is a reporter at The Block and writer of The Daily newsletter, keeping you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. James’ coverage spans everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Layer 2 scaling solutions, avant-garde DeFi protocols, evolving DAO governance structures, trending NFTs and memecoins, regulatory landscapes, crypto company deals and the latest market updates. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or 𝕏 via @humanjets or email him at [email protected].

Editor

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