Bitcoin ETFs Dominated Institutional Investing Last Week, Says CoinShares

Bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, dominated money flowing into crypto funds last week, accounting for $867 million worth of the $882 million in net deposits, according to digital asset investment group CoinShares.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading for $104,368—which is virtually unchanged from its price this time yesterday. But BTC has managed to gain 10.9% in the past week and climbed 25.1% from where it was a month ago, according to CoinGecko data.

“We believe the sharp increase in both prices and inflows is driven by a combination of factors: A global rise in M2 money supply, stagflationary risks in the U.S., and several U.S. states approving Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset,” wrote James Butterfill, head of research at the EU-based firm.

M2 money is finance shorthand for funds that are liquid, but less so than cash or a checking account. That would include savings accounts, retail money market mutual funds, or small amounts being held in time deposits like a certificate of deposit.

It’s a metric that’s closely watched by economists and the Federal Reserve to gauge how much people have available for spending or investment. In general, M2 has been trending up since hitting the skids during the back half of 2023.

Butterfill also noted that U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs, saw $62.9 billion in cumulative net inflows since their launch in January 2024. That beats the previous high of $61.6 billion the funds set in early February.

Even if BTC dominated fund flows in the past week, it wasn’t the only point of interest. The weekly CoinShares report noted that even as Ethereum has seen a 40% price hike in the past week, institutions didn’t dump money into funds.

For Ethereum ETFs, “inflows were relatively muted at just $1.5 million last week,” Butterfill wrote. He added that Sui easily outperformed it, pulling in $11.7 million in net inflows. Sui funds also managed to beat out Solana funds, which saw $3.4 million in net outflows last week.

At the moment, all the SUI ETFs are offered by overseas issuers. But that’s not for lack of trying. Canary Capital filed to offer its SUI ETFs in March. Then, 21Shares tossed its hat in the ring less than two weeks ago, but there’s been no movement just yet.

The newly crypto-friendly SEC has a backlog of at least 70 pending crypto ETFs on its docket. The securities regulator last greenlit a new crypto ETF in July 2024, when it cleared the way for Ethereum ETFs to hit exchanges.