Ethereum funds face $23 million in outflows amid ETF uncertainty

Ethereum (ETH) crypto funds suffered over $23 million in weekly outflows, despite digital asset products witnessing $932 million in inflows for the same period, according to asset management firm CoinShares. The outflows are tied to a growing skepticism over the likelihood of the SEC approving a spot ETH exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.

Bitcoin remained the favored asset, attracting $942 million in inflows, while there was a negligible amount directed towards short Bitcoin positions, indicating a generally positive investor outlook. Altcoins also experienced inflows, with Solana, Chainlink, and Cardano receiving $4.9 million, $3.7 million, and $1.9 million, respectively.

The overall trading volume was a mere $10.5 billion for the week, a stark contrast to the $40 billion seen in March. The increase in inflows appears to be a direct reaction to a lower-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday, with the latter three trading days contributing 89% of the week’s total inflows. This pattern suggests that Bitcoin prices are once again closely tied to interest rate expectations.

Regionally, the US led the charge with inflows of $1 billion. Grayscale, which had experienced significant outflows amounting to $16.6 billion since its ETF launch in January, saw its first inflows of $18 million in a notable shift.

Minor inflows were also recorded in Switzerland and Germany, totaling $27 million and $4.2 million, respectively. On the flip side, Hong Kong and Canada faced outflows of $83 million and $17 million.

Blockchain equities have been facing a challenging year, with outflows in 14 of the 20 weeks thus far, resulting in a cumulative outflow of $512 million.