Institutional Investors Pull $206 Million from Crypto Amid Interest Rate Fears

Digital asset management firm CoinShares reports a second consecutive week of outflows in institutional cryptocurrency investments, totaling $206 million. The outflows, exacerbated by fears of rising interest rates, have predominantly affected crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs), with bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) experiencing significant losses.

Institutional Investors Withdraw $206 Million from Crypto Investment Products, Sparked by Interest Rate Concerns: CoinShares

In a recent report titled "Digital Asset Fund Flows," CoinShares revealed that institutional investments in crypto products have witnessed a second consecutive week of outflows, amounting to a total of $206 million. This brings the aggregate outflows over the past two weeks to almost $312 million, indicating a declining interest in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs) amidst apprehensions of rising interest rates.

CoinShares' report highlights that digital asset investment products experienced outflows of $206 million last week, while trading volumes in ETPs witnessed a slight dip to $18 billion. These volumes currently represent a diminished proportion of total Bitcoin volumes, which continue to increase, standing at 28% compared to 55% a month ago. This data suggests a waning appetite among ETP/ETF investors, likely influenced by expectations that the Federal Reserve (FED) will maintain elevated interest rates for an extended period.

Examining the regional breakdown, institutional investors in Canada and Switzerland injected $30 million and $8 million, respectively, while Germany experienced marginal outflows of $8 million. In contrast, negative sentiment towards US ETFs resulted in significant regional outflows totaling $244 million.

Bitcoin (BTC), as has been the norm, bore the brunt of the outflows, shedding $192 million. Ethereum (ETH) products also endured outflows for the sixth consecutive week, losing $34 million last week.

Despite the overall negative sentiment, certain crypto products managed to attract inflows. Multi-asset investment vehicles, which invest in multiple cryptocurrencies, saw inflows of $9 million last week, while Litecoin (LTC) and Chainlink (LINK) raked in $3.2 million and $1.7 million, respectively.

These findings suggest that institutional investors remain cautious about the crypto market's short-term prospects, with interest rate concerns weighing heavily on their sentiment. However, the inflows into multi-asset investment vehicles, LTC, and LINK indicate that some investors are still exploring diversification strategies and specific altcoin opportunities amidst the broader market downturn.