Cryptocurrency investments amassed inflows of $9.3 billion in 2021
CoinShares’ survey of digital asset investment products showed a third straight week of outflows even as it capped a year of strong inflows.
Outflows last week into bitcoin and other crypto-based investment products were at $32 million, totaling $260 million over the last three weeks. However, London-based asset manager noted that the trend was diminishing following record weekly outflows in mid-December.
Cryptocurrency funds and products have amassed inflows of $9.3 billion in 2021, significantly greater than the $6.8 billion seen in 2020, or up 36 percent year-over-year.
“While the increase from 2019 to 2020 was significantly higher at 806%, we believe this represents a maturing industry, with total assets under management (AuM) ending the year at US$62.5m in 2021 versus just US$2.8bn at the end of 2019,” the report notes.
Breaking down the latest statistics, Coinshares said Bitcoin inflows totaled $6.3 billion last year representing the largest inflows of all digital assets. This was a year-on-year increase of 16% versus $5.4 billion in 2020. A record-setting $269 million of capital flows was invested in funds offering exposure to Bitcoin in the third week of October, following the US SEC permitting a Bitcoin futures ETF decision.
CoinShares shares debuted on the OTCQX Market
Outsized investments were also seen in Ethereum investment products, with inflows coming in at $1.3 billion in 2021. This compares to $920 million in the previous year, but the most recent round of negative sentiment has seen 4 weeks of outflows totaling $161 million.
Ethereum’s market share has suffered in recent months due to Bitcoin’s dominance, and the recent combination of price drop and outflow has seen their AUM fall to $16.7 billion from a record $20 billion. As a result, Ethereum now represents 28% of the capital locked in crypto investment products.
Other highlights show that the total number of coins involved into crypto investment products has expanded from 9 to 15. 37 investment vehicles were launched in 2021 versus 24 in 2020 and now total 132, indicative of the demand and popularity of digital assets.
Coinshares already operates publicly traded crypto exchange-traded-notes (ETNs), which are regulated by the Swedish FSA. Europe’s largest crypto asset manager has its ordinary shares trading on the OTCQX market in the US under the ticker “CNSRF.”
The cryptoasset investment and research platform believes that having its shares traded on the top tier of OTC markets will provide its investor with many benefits. That includes greater market visibility, easier trading access for US-based investors, and increased liquidity owing to a broader geographic pool of potential investors.
