Money is still making a beeline for the door. Crypto exchange-traded products have now recorded four consecutive weeks of redemptions, with a further $173 million withdrawn last week, based on new data from CoinShares. This means that the total for the month so far is approximately $3.74 billion.
The rate of withdrawals has eased somewhat from the intense selling pressure seen earlier in the month, when weekly withdrawals briefly approached $1.7 billion. However, the trend remains the same. Investors are reducing their exposure, not increasing it.
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, said this latest phase is more of a retrenchment than a reversal. At the start of the week, net inflows turned positive, with $575 million going into products. This positivity was short-lived. Mid-week, outflows of $853 million reversed the gains, and Butterfill attributed this to renewed price weakness. The CPI number came in softer than expected on Friday, and modest inflows of around $105 million re-entered the scene, but not enough to reverse the trend.
The regional breakdown was quite telling.
U.S.-listed products saw $403 million in outflows for the week, while Europe and Canada combined saw about $230 million in inflows. Germany led the way with $115 million in inflows, followed by Canada and Switzerland. It appears demand hasn’t evaporated just yet. It’s just been redirected.
Bitcoin-centric products saw the most withdrawals, with $133 million withdrawn last week. Even short-bitcoin products saw $15.4 million withdrawn over the last two weeks, a common trend observed by CoinShares that tends to occur around market troughs. Ethereum products were also under pressure, seeing $85.1 million withdrawn. Smaller products such as Hyperliquid saw modest withdrawals.
Not all is gloomy, however.
Selective altcoins were able to attract investment despite the downturn. XRP led the charge with $33.4 million, followed by Solana with $31 million, and Chainlink with just over $1 million.
Volumes have also normalized along with the investment trends. ETP trading volumes declined to $27 billion from a record high of $63 billion in the previous week, a clear indication that speculative fervor has dissipated.
Prices, as expected, are in line with the sentiment. Bitcoin is still below $70,000, down 2% for the week, and ether is still below $2,000 after heavy selling. The market is not crashing. It’s just less crowded.
