Institutional Investors Flock to Bitcoin Pushing Inflows Past $1 Billion in 2023

Total inflows into traditional investment funds backed by crypto have finally passed the $1 billion mark for the year, after last week saw investors flocking to Bitcoin.

For the week as a whole, crypto investment funds recorded inflows of $293 million, bringing the year-to-date inflows to an impressive $1.14 billion, according to the latest data from crypto research and investment firm CoinShares.

The massive yearly inflows have followed steadily higher crypto prices this year, with Bitcoin currently trading at $36,410, up by around 120% from $16,500 at the beginning of the year.

Bitcoin leads

As usual, Bitcoin is the leading digital asset investors are seeking exposure to, with $240 million going to Bitcoin-backed funds alone for the week.

Year-to-date, Bitcoin funds have now seen inflows of $1.08 billion.

At the same time, short-Bitcoin funds – funds that rise in value as Bitcoin’s price falls – saw outflows of 7 million, an indication of bullish sentiment among investors towards the number one cryptocurrency.

Notably, CoinShares also said that close to 20% of the trading volume on so-called “trusted exchanges” is now made up by trading in various exchange-traded products (ETPs).

“This has rarely happened and suggests ETP investors are participating much more in this rally compared to 2020/21,” the firm wrote.

Ether funds see large inflows

While Bitcoin stands in a league of its own, funds backed by Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) also saw strong inflows last week, totaling $49 million.

According to CoinShares, the last two weeks have signified “a real turn around in sentiment” around ETH, which could be related to speculation that spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETF) could be approved in the US.

Already, market participants are expecting that a spot BTC ETF will be approved at some point between now and January of 2024.

Among other altcoin funds, those backed by Solana’s SOL token stood out with $12.4 million in inflows, according to CoinShares’ data.