From CoinShares Research Blog by James Butterfill

US$2bn inflows in May, Ethereum seeing a turnaround in sentiment

Digital asset investment products saw inflows for the 4th consecutive week totalling US$185m, with May seeing US$2bn inflows, pushing year-to-date inflows past the US$15bn mark for the first time on record. Volumes were down for the week though, falling to US$8bn, relative to US$13bn the week prior.

The majority of inflows were from the US, seeing a net US$130m, although incumbent ETF issuer outflows rose to US$260m. Switzerland saw its second largest week on inflows this year at US$36m, while Canada saw a turnaround with inflows of US$25m despite seeing a net outflow in May totalling US$39m.

Bitcoin saw inflows totalling US$148m, while short-bitcoin saw another week of outflows totalling US$3.5m, suggesting sentiment amongst ETF investors remains positive.

Ethereum saw a second week of inflows following the SEC approval of a spot-based ETF with an expected July 2024 launch date. This represents a turnaround in investor sentiment in an asset that had seen a 10-week run of outflows prior, totalling US$200m. This positive news for Ethereum has also had an impact on Solana, which saw a further US$5.8m inflow last week.

Despite recent direct investments success in digital assets, blockchain equities have suffered, seeing US$7.2m outflows last week and US$516m this year.