Investors poured a record $1.5 billion into crypto funds last week as the first bitcoin ETFs kicked off trading

Isabelle Lee
Updated ·2 min read
A rusty bitcoin coin stands on a table on September 14, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.
Bitcoin. Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

  • Investors poured a record $1.5 billion into the crypto market last week as the first-ever bitcoin ETF kicked off trading.

  • This is the largest-ever weekly inflow, far surpassing the prior record of $640 million set in February, CoinShares said.

  • Ether, meanwhile, saw outflows for a third consecutive week to the tune of $1.4 million due to profit-taking.

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Investors poured a record $1.5 billion into the cryptocurrency market last week as the first-ever bitcoin ETF kicked off trading with the underlying asset itself hitting an all-time high.

The 10th straight week of inflows was also the largest ever, far surpassing the prior weekly record of $640 million set in February, according to a report by digital asset manager CoinShares on Monday.

Year-to-date, total crypto inflows now total $8 billion, beating the 2020 record of $6.7 billion, according to data for the week ending October 22. Total assets under management also hit a new record of $79.2 billion, although it ended the week at $76.7 billion

"The record inflows were a direct result of the US Securities and Exchange Commission allowing a bitcoin ETF investing in futures and the consequent listing of two bitcoin investment products," the report said.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF debuted on October 19, becoming the second-most-traded fund launch of all time, while the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF launched on October 21.

Bitcoin saw 99% of last week's inflows, totaling $1.45 billion. There was, however, some evidence of profit-taking with some older investment products seeing outflows, the report showed.

Bitcoin soared above $66,000 at its high point last week, representing a 50% gain in the space of a month while he benchmark S&P 500 has climbed roughly 4%.

"The cryptocurrency industry has waited for what feels like a very long time," Adam James, senior analyst at OKEx Insights, the research arm of crypto exchange OKEx. "Though ProShare's offering is technically a futures-backed ETF, it still represents a milestone in bitcoin's history."

CoinShares screenshot - Weekly Crypto Asset Flows by Asset (US$m)
Weekly crypto asset flows by asset Bloomberg, CoinShares. Data available as of close 22 October 2021.

Altcoins also made gains, led by solana, cardano, and binance coin, which saw total inflows of $8.1 million, $5.3 million, and $1.8 million respectively.

Ether, meanwhile, saw outflows for a third consecutive week to the tune of $1.4 million. CoinShares attributed this to a "minor profit-taking as the price closes-in on all-time-highs."

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