Cryptocurrency investment products opinion Inflows totaled $130 million in the week ending May 6, reflecting a five-week streak of outflows, according to CoinShares.
According to CoinShares’ “Weekly Digital Asset Fund Flows” report published on May 13, institutional investors have increased their exposure to digital assets, with cryptocurrency investment products seeing total inflows of $130 million last week.
Once again, the lion’s share of the movement was attributed to Bitcoin (BTC) investment funds, which received inflows worth $144 million.
Weekly trading volumes in investment products fell from a weekly average of $17 billion in April to $8 billion in the week ending May 10, according to the report.
James Butterville, head of research at CoinShares, said:
“These volumes highlight that ETP investors are less involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem at the moment, representing 22% of total global trusted exchange volumes compared to 31% last month.”
This data comes in the wake of heavy selling and doubts surrounding US inflation data ahead of the Consumer Price Index data this week. Institutions pumped nearly $116.8 million into bitcoin ETFs between May 6 and 10 as the exodus from Grayscale’s GBTC subsided.
Data from Farside Investors reveals that institutional capital continued to flow into US Bitcoin ETFs, recording the largest inflow ever since May 6.
Fidelity, Bitwise, and VanEck’s Spot Bitcoin ETFs are the only products that contributed to inflows on May 13. Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund was the biggest gainer during the day, with inflows reaching $20.3 million.
The report also revealed that the United States, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil showed regional inflows, as shown in the table below. The largest regional outflows came from Canada, at $20 million.
Increased inflows into crypto investment funds were also accompanied by news of the Wisconsin Investment Board revealing its exposure to spot investing in Bitcoin.
In a 3F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 14, the board revealed that it purchased 94,562 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the first quarter of the year.
Read more: The state of Wisconsin announced $164 million in investments in spot bitcoin ETFs
The investment board, also known as SWIB, also revealed that it had purchased approximately $64 million worth of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares.
Asset manager MacroScope noted that the board’s filing was one of the most significant Bitcoin disclosures to date that will be closely analyzed by other investment boards, which may also follow suit.
The board’s interest in spot bitcoin ETFs appears to have come sooner than expected, said Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.
“Great, the state pension bought IBIT in the first quarter. Normally, you don’t get these big fish institutions in the 13 funds for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity), but as we’ve seen, these are not normal launches.”
Balchunas believes this is a good sign for the market, adding: “Expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”
This disclosure signals a major move by SWIB into the digital asset market by the Wisconsin Investment Commission. Spot Bitcoin ETFs provide investors with exposure to Bitcoin without having to own the cryptocurrency directly. This move by the Wisconsin Investment Commission likely indicates a growing adoption of cryptocurrency investment products among traditional finance companies.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
