Cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) inflows posted their biggest week on record after raking in $1.5bn on the back of the launch of the first futures-backed bitcoin ETF in the US.
The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) alone accounted for $1.2bn of the flows after it launched on Tuesday 19 October – following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – to become the fastest ETF to break the $1bn mark in history.
This was followed by the launch of the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) last Friday which saw an asset inflow of roughly $78m on its first day of trading.
Investors had been piling into bitcoin ETPs in the run-up to the SEC’s approval, recording roughly $740m in the nine weeks prior.
However, this was dwarfed by the launch of the BITO as flows smashed the previous weekly record of $640m recorded in February this year, according to data from crypto ETP issuer CoinShares.
It takes year-to-date inflows in crypto ETPs to $8bn, over 10% of the entire digital assets under management of $76.7bn.
Commenting on the flows, James Butterfill, investment strategist at CoinShares, said: “The record inflows were a direct result of the SEC allowing a bitcoin ETF investing in futures and the consequent listing of two bitcoin investment products with inflows totalling $1.2bn.”
Away from the US, bitcoin recorded inflows of $138m while CoinShares recorded outflows of $58m in its bitcoin product as investors cashed in on rising bitcoin price.
Bitcoin broke through its all-time high last week, peaking at $66,000 on Wednesday, before finishing the week 2% down at $60,600.
Ethereum continued to see outflows, with investors taking $1.4m out of the digital asset, which Butterfill said was a result of minor profit taking as the price closes in on an all-time-high.
Elsewhere, solana, cardano and binance continued to see inflows, taking in $8.1m, $5.3m and $1.8m, respectively.
