Digital-Asset Funds Reach $50B Despite Outflows

Digital-asset investment products saw their fifth straight week of outflows in the week ended on Friday, although the magnitude of the outflows was much less than it was in May and June, according to a report Monday by CoinShares.

Net outflows across all digital-asset funds totaled $26 million last week. But following recent gains in the prices of bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies, total investment product of assets under management (AUM) is now back at $50 billion, the highest level since mid-May. 

The market share for ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain and the second-biggest overall after bitcoin by market cap, is rising rapidly and now represents 26% of all digital investment products, compared with just 11% at the beginning of the year.

The price of ether has risen sharply recently, gaining ground in the days leading up to the network’s London hard fork that occurred last Thursday. Ether has risen roughly 16% over the last week, and was trading 4% higher on Monday at about $3,150 at press time.

Although bitcoin has also seen positive price movements in the last few weeks, the cryptocurrency continued to bear the brunt of the outflows, totaling $33 million last week. Ether saw minor inflows totaling $2.8 million last week; ether has not seen the same level of outflows over the last few months as bitcoin has. 

The report also noted that the number of funds/investment products listed has accelerated recently, with a record of 37 launched so far this year, compared with a previous high of 30 launches in 2018.