Crypto funds at asset managers such as BlackRock, Bitwise, Fidelity, Grayscale, ProShares and 21Shares registered outflows totaling $126 million globally last week, according to CoinShares’ latest report.

These represent the first outflows in three weeks — when a record of almost $1 billion in outflows was witnessed for the week ending March 22.

“Investors are seemingly hesitant since the positive price momentum has stalled,” CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill wrote. “Volumes did pick up a little from $17 billion to $21 billion week-on-week, but ETP/ETF activity dropped relative to the overall market, from 40% of total volumes on trusted exchanges over the last month to 31% last week, demonstrating this caution amongst investors.”

Weekly crypto asset flows. Images: CoinShares.

Crypto assets fall amid geopolitical tensions

Bitcoin BTC -8.60% has fallen 7.7% over the past week, with ether dropping 10%, according to The Block’s price page. Meanwhile, the GMCI 30 index — representing the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap — fell 12% during the same period.

Most of the damage came on Saturday after the Israeli military said Iran had launched dozens of drones in an attack heading toward the country. Bitcoin fell to a low of $60,822 and ether $2,850 before recovering.

On Sunday, the United Nations issued a warning that the Middle East is "on the brink" of a potentially devastating all-out conflict — with Israel vowing to "exact a price" against Iran after the drone and missile attack, while major powers called for de-escalation.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $66,642 and ether $3,269. Solana has led the recovery among major cryptocurrencies, gaining 8% over the past 24 hours to trade for $154, according to The Block’s price page — having also dropped more significantly over the weekend.

Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin ETF sees zero daily flows for the first time, leaving BlackRock and Grayscale to battle it out

The U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds contributed significantly to the global weekly figure, with net outflows of $82.5 million leaving the funds after three out of five negative days last week.

U.S.-based crypto investment products saw $145 million in weekly outflows overall, with bitcoin-based funds contributing $110 million to the outflows globally. In contrast, Germany-based funds registered $29 million worth of inflows last week.

On Friday, Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin ETF witnessed zero flows for the first time since the funds launched on Jan. 11, leaving BlackRock and Grayscale to battle it out as the only ETFs to register any flows for the day. 

Ultimately, $111.1 million worth of inflows into BlackRock’s IBIT product were insufficient to offset $166.2 million in outflows from Grayscale’s higher-fee GBTC fund, leading to $55.1 million in net outflows on Friday. Total net inflows currently stand at $12.5 billion.

Volume for the spot Bitcoin ETFs did spike to the highest level in three weeks, however — generating $4.6 billion in trading on Friday as the market volatility began.

Short-bitcoin products broke a three-week outflow streak, registering minor inflows of $1.7 million — “presumably taking advantage of recent price weakness,” Butterfill said.

Meanwhile, ether-based funds were hit the hardest last week, seeing $29 million worth of outflows for the fifth consecutive week. Solana products also saw $3.6 million in outflows. However, some altcoin-related funds bucked the trend, with Decentraland, Basic Attention Token and Lido recording inflows of $4.9 million, $2.9 million and $1.8 million, respectively.