(Kitco News) – Globally listed crypto funds set another new record high in inflows – despite the pause in Bitcoin’s (BTC) rally – as a total of $2.9 billion flowed into digital asset investment products the week ending 3/15, beating the prior week’s record of $2.7 billion.
The influx in investments pushed the year-to-date (YTD) inflows to $13.2 billion, which means this cycle has already surpassed the inflows for all of 2021, the year of the previous bull market, which recorded total inflows of $10.6 billion.
“Trading volumes totaled US$43bn for the week, the same as the prior week's record and comprising a larger 47% of overall global Bitcoin volumes,” said James Butterfill, Head of Research at CoinShares. “During the week, global ETPs broke the US$100bn mark for the first time, although the price correction at the end of the week saw it settle at US$97bn.”
The U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to be the primary source of flows. Thus, the U.S. accounted for $2.95 billion of the total, while Brazil, Hong Kong and Australia saw minor inflows of $24 million, $15 million, and $5 million, respectively.
Switzerland saw the largest outflows, declining by $32.6 million, while Canada, Germany, and Sweden experienced combined outflows of $45.8 million, bringing their combined 2024 outflows to $755 million.
“Bitcoin saw US$2.86bn of inflows last week and now comprises 97% of all inflows year-to-date,” Butterfill said. “Short Bitcoin saw its largest inflows in a year totaling US$26m, its 5th consecutive week.”
While the store of value token saw inflows, smart contract platforms were hit with outflows, with Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Polygon (MATIC) seeing declines of $14 million, $2.7 million, and $6.8 million, respectively.
“Blockchain equities saw inflows of US$19m, the first following a 6-week bout of outflows,” Butterfill said.
Despite the pullback in prices that began after Bitcoin hit a new all-time high above $73,800 on Thursday, data from Alternative shows that sentiment in the crypto market is still in ‘Extreme Greed’ territory, suggesting caution is warranted when it comes to opening new long positions.
