A new report from CoinShares shows that institutional investors are continuing to put money into digital assets.
Over the past week, cryptocurrency investment products brought in $224 million, pushing the total for the last seven weeks to $11 billion.
Ethereum ($ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, stood out by gaining $296.4 million in inflows. This is the biggest weekly inflow Ethereum has seen since the US presidential election in November.
This strong showing comes after Ethereum’s recent Pectra upgrade on 7 May. The upgrade improved how users interact with the network and made smart contracts more efficient.
Since then, Ethereum has seen seven straight weeks of positive inflows, reaching a total of $1.5 billion. It now makes up 10.5% of all digital assets under management, according to CoinShares.
“Ethereum leads with US$296.4 million in inflows, its strongest run since the US election, now representing 10.5% of total AuM”, said the CoinShares report.
The Head of Research at CoinShares, James Butterfill, pointed out that this growth is happening even as the broader market slows down due to questions about the US Federal Reserve policies.
“The surge in demand for Ethereum comes despite a broader slowdown due to uncertainty around the US Federal Reserve policy”, he explained.
Data online shows that Ethereum received $785 million in inflows the week after the Pectra upgrade and another $286 million the following week. These numbers highlight the continued interest in Ethereum by large-scale investors.
Ethereum is also doing well in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) space. ETFs focused on Ethereum have now seen 15 straight days of inflows. This shows that investors are becoming more confident in Ethereum’s long-term potential.
Crypto analyst, Merlijn the Trader, commented on Ethereum’s momentum, writing, “Ethereum 2025 is 2016 on steroids. Same consolidation, same shakeout, same reversal pattern. Back then, ETH rewrote the charts. Now? We’ve got stronger base, more capital, and ETF momentum”.
At the same time, Ethereum’s price has been on the rise. At the time of writing, it was trading at $2,528, up by 1.28% in the last 24 hours.
ETFs reveal different trends for Ethereum and Bitcoin
Ethereum’s strength is also clear when looking at ETF data. According to Glassnode, Ethereum spot ETFs added 97,800 ETH in the past week, bringing the total to 3.77 million ETH.
While this is slightly below the February peak of 3.81 million ETH, the ongoing inflows show that interest is growing steadily.
In contrast, Bitcoin ETFs saw a different trend. Last week, they recorded a net outflow of 4,600 BTC, lowering their total holdings to 1.20 million BTC.
This is the first time in eight weeks that Bitcoin ETFs have seen negative flows and marks a drop of about 11,500 BTC from late May.
Glassnode data indicates that while Ethereum ETFs are gaining, Bitcoin ETFs have begun to cool off.
This difference suggests that investors might be leaning more towards Ethereum right now, possibly due to positive updates in regulations and developments in decentralised finance.
Big players like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale continue to hold major positions in Ethereum ETFs, which supports the idea that institutions are placing more trust in Ethereum as a long-term investment.
Some analysts believe that Ethereum’s continued ETF inflows show that its recent growth could continue.
Others are waiting to see whether Bitcoin’s recent outflow is a short break or a sign of a new trend.
Bitcoin slows down, altcoins stay mixed
While Ethereum had a strong week, Bitcoin saw its second week in a row of outflows. Investment products focused on Bitcoin lost $56.5 million.
CoinShares stated, “Bitcoin saw its second straight week of modest outflows totaling $56.5 million, as policy uncertainty kept investors on the sidelines…short-Bitcoin products also experienced a second week of outflows”.
This pullback in Bitcoin might be due to ongoing concerns about what the US Federal Reserve will do next with interest rates and inflation.
As long as there’s no clear direction from the Fed, some investors may be choosing to wait before making big moves.
Other cryptocurrencies had mixed results. Sui ($SUI), a newer blockchain project, managed to pull in $1.1 million in inflows, showing some continued interest.
On the other hand, XRP ($XRP) had its third straight week of outflows, losing $6.6 million in the process. These results suggest that investors are still unsure about altcoins in general.
Geographically, most of the inflows came from the United States, which added $175 million. Germany followed with $47.8 million, then Switzerland at $15.7 million, Canada at $9.8 million, and Australia at $6.5 million.
However, Brazil and Hong Kong saw outflows of $9.2 million and $14.6 million, respectively. For Hong Kong, this was the first time in weeks that inflows had turned negative.
With the crypto market currently in a holding pattern, much depends on what the Federal Reserve says next.
Ethereum has managed to stand out thanks to its recent upgrades and strong ETF performance, but wider investor confidence is still being affected by global economic conditions.
For now, Ethereum is showing signs that it could take a leadership role among digital assets. Its rise in ETF flows and institutional interest marks it as a key player.
Bitcoin’s recent slowdown may just be a pause, but investors are watching closely to see whether it continues.
As digital assets evolve and market conditions shift, the coming weeks could offer more clarity on where things are headed – especially once the Federal Reserve provides new guidance.
